Schedule: Spring 2026

Class # Part 1 Presentations/discussion Part 2 Background lecture
1. Jan 8 Gleitman & Newport 1995 I. Milestones, Trajectory, (In)variability
1. Issues and Themes
2. Jan 15 Brown 1973 2. Milestones, Phonology
3. Jan 22 Byers-Heinlen, Burns, & Werker 2010
Werker Tees 1984
Petitto & Marentette 1991
3. Early lexical knowledge
4. Jan 29 Foushee & Srinivasan 2025
Zhang et al. 2015
Gervain et al. 2008
4. Early grammatical knowledge
5. Feb 5 Shi et al. 2006
Shi, Emond, & Badri 2020
Perkins & Lidz 2021
Gervain et al. 2008
5. First words and sentences
6. Feb 12 Bloom 1970 (selection)
Petitto et al. 2001
Gerken et al. 1990
6. Morphology and morphosyntax
7. Feb 19 de Villiers & de Villiers 1973
Poeppel & Wexler 1993
Schuler et al. 2016
7. Mid-semester review
Post Exam 1, due Friday 2/27
8. Feb 26 🏆Paper Superlative Awards 🏆 II. Broader issues
8. Environment I
March 5: Spring break
9. Mar 12 Feldman et al. 1978
Supalla 1991
Kocab et al. 2023
9. Environment II
10. Mar 19 Newport, Gleitman & Gleitman 1977
Casillas, Brown, & Levinson 2020
Marchman & Fernald 2008
Cartmill et al. 2013
10. The Word Gap (discussion)
11. Mar 26 Literature review check-in 11. Critical periods
April 2: Easter break
12. Apr 9 Weikum et al. 2012
Mayberry et al. 2002
Mayberry et al. 2024
12. Theories
Hand out Exam 2, due Mon 4/13
13. Apr 16 Valian 2014 13. What’s in UG?
Hand out Exam 3, due Mon 4/27
14. Apr 23 Discussion: Evidence for UG 14. Wrap up