Loss of hearing or deafness is an everyday fact of life for more than 72 million people worldwide. More than 80% of them live in developing countries. In Sri Lanka, more than 70,000 people suffer from complete or partial deafness. Still, they have to communicate among themselves and with others. In the absence of speech, they have to rely on a sign language, though some have mastered the art of lip reading and lip syncing.
Sign languages are as old as humanity. In fact, this is how babies still communicate before they develop the power of speech. This shows that sign communication is perhaps in our genes, a holdover from the days when early humans or their ancestors communicated using gestures before speech evolved. A recent study showed that we share this trait with all primates, who make hand gestures to communicate with each other.
Ape and human infants at comparable stages of development use similar gestures, such as pointing or lifting their arms to be picked up. Chimp and human babies rely mainly on gestures at about a year old, and gradually develop symbolic language. Moreover, all chimpanzees and gorillas can be taught to communicate in advanced sign language.
Today, there are more than 300 different sign languages in use around the world with many of them given equal recognition as spoken languages. Some signs for everyday things are universal – eating, sleeping, be silent, pointing, etc but beyond that, complex sign interpretations help deaf people to understand the words of a live speaker. Sign languages are fully fledged natural languages, structurally distinct from spoken languages.
Sign languages evolve within deaf communities and are not usually dependent on the surrounding spoken languages. While sign languages are usually associated with hand shapes, the rules for well-formed sentences also include eyebrow position, eye position, hand motions and where signs occur in relation to the body. Facial expressions also play a fundamental role, notating rhythm and tone. There is also an international sign language, used by deaf people at international meetings and informally when travelling and socializing.
The UN recognizes and promotes the use of sign languages. It makes clear that sign languages are equal in status to spoken languages and obligates states parties to facilitate the learning of sign language and promote the linguistic identity of the deaf community. The UN General Assembly has proclaimed September 23 (tomorrow) as the International Day of Sign Languages in order to raise awareness of the importance of sign languages for the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes and promotes the use of sign languages. The over-arching theme of Sign Language Day 2019 is “Sign Language Rights for All” – the categories include Children, Deaf Senior Citizens, Deaf Blind People and Deaf People With Disabilities, Deaf Women, Deaf LGBTIQA+ and Deaf Refugees.
In Sri Lanka, unfortunately, there is very little awareness of the rights of deaf people. It is not a ‘visible’ disability unlike blindness or loss of limbs. Therefore, many deaf persons have to suffer in silence as the rest of the society goes about their business. Only the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) has made an effort to accommodate the deaf in their news programming, employing sign language interpreters. It should be given credit for this laudable step. But there is a snag – there are only a few qualified sign language interpreters in the country, which is woefully inadequate considering the number of deaf people. The Government must step in to train more hearing capable people in sign language for the benefit of deaf persons. It would also help in the education of completely deaf children.
Complete deafness should not be confused with the ‘hard of hearing’ condition, where the sufferer can often hear ambient sounds and some spoken words with the use of hearing aids. However, even this should be classified as a disability. The Government must grant suitable concessions for the import of hearing aids and their batteries, which are often expensive. People must be encouraged to get hearing tests, the same way the government promotes vision tests, especially, for those over 50. The Government must also step in to make cochlear implants more affordable.
There should be more Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH) on our TV programs in all three languages. Right now, many TV stations display Sinhala subtitles for Tamil programs and vice versa but this is mainly for the purpose of translation. There should be subtitles for the original language as well – in other words, a Sinhala program should have Sinhala subtitles for the benefit of deaf and hearing impaired persons. Granted, it may be logistically impossible to do this for every program, especially live ones, at least the more important programs should have subtitles and closed captions in the original language. Organisers of live spoken word events too should try to have sign language interpreters where possible.
There are signs that the world is taking note of the importance of sign languages and the people who use them. In Sri Lanka, at least one international fast food chain has opened an outlet staffed entirely by deaf employees, apart from the manager, who has normal hearing but has also received sign language training. This is an example for other outlets to follow. Organisations now realise that hiring deaf people or people with disability should not be viewed as a charity but as a way to improve a corporation’s reach across different segments of the market. Judging by these developments, there is no doubt that more opportunities would open for sign language users over the next few years.
Meanwhile, technology continues to march onward vis-à-vis hearing aids. It is a huge industry worth around US$ 12 billion a year and new research is happening all the time. The latest hearing aids are equipped with Bluetooth, which can stream audio directly from another device to a hearing aid.
Scientists are also working on devices that will translate sign language for people with normal hearing. For example, very soon it is possible that a video camera will be able to convert sign language into text, and that text into speech.
There are also attempts to get the industry to produce analogue hearing aids again, on the premise that they sound more natural.
According to an article in Slate: “Analogue aids merely amplify existing sound—a more sophisticated version of an ear trumpet—such that there is no real interruption of the original acoustic wave. Digital aids by contrast, pick up the sound, process it into binary digital information, and then reproduce the sound as a new wave using a built-in digital-to-analog converter. Digital devices thus have to re-create the activity that our brains and ears co-evolved for eons to perform.” Furthermore, the latest digital devices could be very expensive.
Future advances could bring down the prices of hearing aids and we might even have artificial ears. Genetic engineering may also make hearing loss a thing of the past. Until then, the world must recognize the importance of sign languages and help foster them.