This study investigates the impact of task structure and strategic planning on oral performance. Sixty four upper-intermediate learners of English were randomly selected and assigned to two groups: with pre-task planning and without pre-task planning. Each participant then was asked to narrate two stories (structured vs. unstructured) based on cartoon scripts. The structured task had a problem-solution structure in which the events could not be reordered without compromising the story, while the unstructured task lacked a problem-solution structure and its events could easily be rearranged...