ABSTRACT
English-language development (ELD) teachers who reflect on the origins and acquisition of language will be more effective language teachers. ELD teachers must give thought to the development of language, not only as it flowers in speech but as a wider system for making meaning. Noam Chomsky is likely the most widely known living social science researcher in the world. Thus, for Chomsky, language is not learned, it is acquired, as a natural product of biological development. Another of Chomsky's claims was that the world's languages were far more similar than people thought. He suggested that the variations in human languages, while vast at first glance, all have certain principles and general features. One time-honored way to think about human language is to compare it to the ways that animals communicate. ELD teachers can create interesting instructional materials that help English-language learners (ELLs) learn about animal communication.
