It was never about Chomsky or whether he's "worth the teacher's praise".
I don't care how great somebody is. It still comes off badly to refer to them as "the great man" and appeal to their authority if you want to persuade your reader of something.
I disagree. Replace Chomsky with Lincoln or Jefferson or Newton or Einstein. Would you object then? "Great" doesn't imply correctness. It implies only profound respect for one's achievements.
Furthermore, the OP did not appeal to authority. She cited a claim from a reputable source, and asserted that this claimed seemed to be evident in her own experience. She never asserted that the claim was true merely because Chomsky said so. Your criticism is no more valid than it would be for the case where she might document evidence from her personal life for one of Newton's theories.