Three topics are offered 2010/2011. Students may take this course more than once for credit if topics are different. Topic for Fall 2010: Universals of Language. Prereq: CAS LX 250 or consent of instructor. Survey of a range of characteristics, differentiating possible from impossible human languages, that inform modern understanding of the human language capacity. Discussion centers on issues of typology, modalities, acquisition, variation, change, and creolization. Topics for Spring 2011: Section A1: Language Acquisition. Prereq: CAS LX 250 or consent of instructor. A general introduction to theoretical study of first and second language acquisition, focusing mainly on the development of syntax. Topics include tense and agreement, word order, and constraints on pronoun use, as well as lexical semantics and discourse constraints. Section B1: Current Issues in Syntax. Prereq: CAS LX 522 or equivalent. In-depth exploration of a selection of the active topics in recent syntactic research, building on the foundation established in CAS LX 522. Class discussions focus on articles and perspectives from the current syntactic literature.