X-bar Syntax: The motivations for intermediate category levels. The distinction between complements and adjuncts. The generality of the X-bar framework (CP/IP/DP). (Radford 1988; Haegeman 1994; Cook and Newson 1996, Newson 1997)

The structure of the English NP: Complementation and modification within the NP – the distinction between complement clauses, restrictive relative clauses and non-restrictive relative clauses. The distinction between post-head and pre-head modification. The determiner system. The DP hypothesis. (Radford 1988; Giorgi and Longobardi 1991; Newson 1997)

The Lexicon: The role of the lexicon in the grammar. Kinds of lexical information - categorisation, subcategorisation and selection – and their representation. Reducing lexical information. (Radford 1988; Haegeman 1994)

Noun Phrase Movement: The nature of NP movement in passive and raising structures. The role of Case in NP movement. NP traces as anaphors. (Radford 1988; Haegeman 1994; Cook and Newson 1996)

Wh-Movement: The nature of wh-movement in questions and relative clauses. Restrictions on wh-movement – that-trace and strong crossover effects. Wh-traces as r-expressions. (Radford 1988; Haegeman 1994; Cook and Newson 1996)

Head Movement: The nature of head movement in tensed clauses and questions. Restrictions on head movement – the head movement constraint and relativised minimality. The difference between English auxiliary and main verbs and the interaction with negation and question formation. (Radford 1988; Haegeman 1994; Cook and Newson 1996)

Exceptional and Small Clauses: The X-bar analysis of the clause and the difference between full, exceptional and small clauses. The analysis of the small clause as: a predicate phrase; an agreement phrase; something that stands outside of the X-bar framework. The assignment of Case to the subject of exceptional and small clauses. (Radford 1988; Haegeman 1994; Cook and Newson 1996)

Relative Clauses: The role of wh-movement in forming relative clauses. Deletion of the wh-element. The distinction between restrictive and non-restricted relative clauses. (Radford 1981; Radford 1988; Haegeman 1994)

English Auxiliary Verbs: The distinction between aspectual and modal auxiliaries and their positions in sentence structure. The syntax of tense. The difference between English auxiliary and main verbs. (Radford 1988, Haegeman 1994, Newson 1997)

The CP/IP analysis of the clause: The S/Sr′ analysis of the clause and its difficulties. The motivation for inflection as the head of the clause. The motivation for the complementiser as the head of S′. Implications of the CP/IP analysis for a general theory of structure. (Radford 1988; Haegeman 1994; Newson 1997)

The Optimality Theory approach to syntax: The role of the input. The characterisation and use of constraints. Language variation. The problems that OT grammars address. (Archangeli and Langendoen 1997, Barbosa et al. 1998, Legendre et al. 2001, Newson 2000)

The Minimalist Programme: The role of the Numeration. Feature checking and its uses. Language variation. General language design features. (Webelhuth 1995, Cook and Newson 1996, Chomsky 1995)