Every theory of second language acquisition (SLA) hypothesizes that learners come to
know the properties of a language by being exposed to instances of it in meaningful
conversation. Within SLA, the standard analysis of the ‘input
question’ appears to be that input equals objective properties of the
stimulus array less the effects of selective attention (the intake). In this paper,
I offer a critique of the standard analysis. I claim that it is not interpretable in
the absence of a theory of mental representation, theories of speech perception and
language parsing, and a theory of language learning. I show that it cannot account
for aspects of signal detection, phonetic or phonological learning. The standard
treatment is essentially pretheoretical. I define an alternative position which
distinguishes input to speech processing and input to language-learning mechanisms,
drawing on the Autonomous Induction Theory – a novel theory of learning
which is compatible with a modular view of processing and a view of linguistic
cognition based on Universal Grammar (UG).
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