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Animals other than humans have not developed communications comparable to human language.But is it possible that other animals have the capacity to learn a language if they are adequately taught？Obviously，this is a fascination notion.The idea of communicating directly with another species has long been a part of human folklore and children’s fantasies.But on a scientific level，the question of whether animals can learn a language is important primarily because it relates to the controversy（）between the cognitive and the learning approaches to language.If language is dependent on and is actually an outgrowth of the intellectual structure of the human mind，there is the strong supposition that only humans are capable of using language.Therefore，Noam Chomsky and other psycholinguists have argued that only humans can learn a language，while most behaviorists feel that with sufficient patience it should be possible to teach an animal some sort of language.Although the two schools of thought clearly differ on this point，it is not really a crucial test of the two theories.If a chimpanzee can master a simple language all it would mean is that the chimp’s intellectual capacity and brain structure are more similar to ours than we thought.It would not necessarily imply that our intellectual structure is unimportant in our own mastery of language.Thus，teaching an animal language is an impressive demonstration of the power of learning techniques，but it is not evidence that language is developed entirely through learning.
On the other hand，the question of whether other animals can learn a language is fascination in its own right，aside from its value as a test of the two theories of language development.Accordingly，whatever one’s position on the theoretical dispute，we must consider training an animal to use language a dramatic accomplishment.