If I was to be given a research grant to conduct a linguistic study on ASL and its culture, I would spend time and resources further exploring the different topics that Susmita and I brough up in our final cultural presentation. These include topics such as the evolution of signs amidst political correctness, the debate regarding cochlear implants, and the social, economic, and physiological implications for the Deaf/deaf community. The first place I would start my study would be at the worlds only recognized university for the Deaf and hard of hearing, Gallaudet. Here, I would seek to be able to work with Deaf scholars, particularly those with a strong passion for helping the Deaf community achieve greater social equity. Different structural components presented in class such as the dimensions of different cultures, grammar, syntax, and morphology are all tools that can be leveraged to better understand and analyze the ASL language.
One of the most debated topics within the ASL community is the widespread adoption of cochlear implants especially among the youth. I would propose further investigating this phenomenon as when these young children start to use cochlear implants and begin to hear, their usage of ASL is affected as they are now listening to more commonly spoken English words and sentences. This goes back to my previous discussion post regarding muddling ASL with SEE (Signed Exact English). Another dimension that I would like to study is how ASL has progressively changed over time. Through increasing mainstreaming and greater technological advancements, Deaf kids today are becoming more isolated from their cultural roots. This has also led to the language of ASL evolving, to reflect the attitudes and demographics of this present generation.
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