According to Modern Language Association Statistics (Lusin et al., 2023), enrollment in languages other than English at the university level is declining. This is not unique in post-secondary contexts: in 2017, only five states had more than 30% of surveyed students enrolled in a foreign language course (American Councils for International Education, 2017). A variety of factors are at play: economical, cultural, and pedagogical. This research aims to provide solutions for the latter by analyzing the aforementioned factors via pedagogical methods that encourage oral production. As several researchers suggest, speaking is often both the primary goal and expectation of students learning another language (Nunan, 1991; Leong & Ahmandi, 2017; Bimpong, 2020). Therefore, second language instructors should focus on developing oral communication skills. Instructors can do this by leveraging written pre-task planning to promote oral language production. This thesis qualitatively examines the history and present condition of oral output instruction in the United States to better prepare students for 21st century professions and global citizenship. The research question Does written pre-task planning promote oral language production? attempts to provide second language educators a tool to increase oral language production.