text: English had , however , been used as a literary language for centuries before Chaucer 's life , and several of Chaucer 's contemporaries -- John Gower , William Langland , and the Pearl Poet -- also wrote major literary works in English .
simplified: Some other writers of Chaucer 's time also wrote in English . Some of these writers were John Gower , William Langland , and the Pearl Poet .