The past decade of instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) research has gradually moved beyond the focus on the surface, formal features of input to probe into the more intrinsic attributes of L2 input at the phonological, lexical, grammatical and discourse levels. The input-based approaches growing out of recent ISLA research findings introduced in this article are but a few prime examples of how language instructors might take advantage of empirical innovations and apply them in the L2 classroom. In the long run, it would be beneficial for teacher education and professional development programs to cover the working principles underlying some of the latest ISLA research advances on a regular basis. The mix-and-match combinations of these latest applications together with the more conventional instructional practices will certainly broaden the repertoire of a great many instructional practitioners as they seek to cater to all sorts of language learning needs in the 21st century.