It is possible to examine the development of English wh-questions in first and second language learners and to detect regularities in the order of emergence of certain linguistic structures. It is also possible to speculate whether the stages in language acquisition correspond to the transformational derivation in transformational grammar. The English-speaking author reports here on the English-language development of his two Norwegian-speaking children as seen in wh-questions. Particular difficulties are noted and discussed. Examining these processes points out the need for a more comprehensive language-learning theory which considers general cognitive factors along with linguistic mechanisms. Tables demonstrating wh-capability and development are included along with a bibliography. (VM)