Elk (American) sounds like a cow (English) (5)
I believe the answer is:
moose
'elk' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'sounds like a cow english' is the wordplay.
'sounds like a cow' becomes 'moos' (cows go moo).
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'moos'+'e'='MOOSE'
'american' acts as a link.
This may not be right. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for moose that I've seen before include "beasts" , "US deer with enormous antlers" , "North American deer" , "Ungulate" , "Large N American deer like European elk" .)