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Article published In: Language Teaching for Young Learners
Vol. 8:1 (2026) ► pp.59–93

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Pre-task planning in CLIL classrooms

A study of language choice and type of planning guidance in spoken geography tasks

ORCiD logo with link | University of Vienna
ORCiD logo with link | University of Vienna
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with University of Vienna.

Published online: 6 September 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.25001.khe
Abstract
This study examined the effects of guided and unguided pre-task planning on the complexity, accuracy, lexis, and fluency (CALF) in L2 oral production, as well as the quality of task outcomes in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) classrooms. Additionally, the study compared the impact of first language (L1) and second language (L2) planning when it was unguided. Seventeen pairs of lower-secondary CLIL geography learners completed two oral decision-making tasks under three planning conditions: guided L2 planning, unguided L2 planning, and unguided L1 planning. In the guided planning condition, learners were provided with a structured worksheet that addressed both task content and language, while the unguided planning worksheet had no such structure. Learners’ task performances were measured regarding CALF and their task outcomes were also evaluated. Results indicated that learners achieved higher accuracy under the unguided planning condition, while greater complexity was found in the guided planning condition, with no significant effects detected for other dimensions. Nor were there any statistically significant differences in the language of planning. Furthermore, it was found that task topics with personal relevance positively influenced task outcomes. Implications for research and teaching on the role of different pre-task planning conditions in CLIL classrooms are discussed.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Review of the literature
    • Guided and unguided pre-task planning
    • L1 and L2 planning
    • Focus on language in school-level CLIL classrooms
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Tasks
    • Procedure
    • Data analysis
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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