Why Koko the Gorilla Couldn't Talk: video worksheets, differentiated.

Please ensure you can access the video before you get this resource. Please watch the whole film before use to check that it is appropriate for your class. Some possibly inappropriate language and scenes. See also Koko the Talking Gorilla.

The film drills down into what it means to use a language, compared to Koko’s use of signs, and concludes that whilst animals may have richer inner lives than we perceive, they can’t use human-like language. The technical and detailed ideas are presented in a very accessible way, although some may regard the style as flippant.

Anthropomorphism, Rico the Border Collier, clever raccoons, crows; social vs. non-social animal intelligence. Behaviorist vs. Chomsky schools of linguistics; Vicky the chimpanzee; Washoe the chimpanzee; Koko the gorilla. Koko’s achievements. Nim Chimpsky the chimpanzee: could not be shown to make sentences or initiate conversations – comparison with human children. Paterson’s original work reviewed – lacks data, transcriptions etc. Koko’s errors explained / accommodated; mimicry vs. understanding. Sebeok and Rosenthal express strong doubts. Sign languages (inc. ASL) as languages – grammar etc. Rhyming in spoken vs. signed languages. Koko-inspired uptake of ASL. Abuse of subject animals. Kanzi the bonobo, lexigrams. Gabby Riter and homeopathic medicine. The nipple court-case. Helen Keller’s language acquisition.

Find the film by searching YouTube’s Soup Emporium channel for “Why Koko (Probably) Couldn’t Talk (Sorry) | The Deep Dive”.

14 questions for the 49-min film. Differentiated! Both versions look very similar, but “B” version has subtle clues. Excellent subtitles: scripted, not auto-generated. Answer sheet. Very easy to mark. .doc & .pdf for all files. Link to film on all sheets.