Abstract The current research probed into the effect of reading-related tasks on Iranian EFL learners’ speaking skills. It also examined the difference between EFL male and female learners with respect to the reading-related tasks and Iranian EFL learners’ speaking skills. To this end, a placement test was conducted among 112 Iranian EFL learners. Based on the results of the placement test, 60 out of all 112 Iranian EFL learners were selected and put into two groups as experimental and control groups. The experimental group was also divided into male (n =11) and female (n =19) learners. A speaking pretest was also taken for the selected skills prior to treatment. The experimental group received instruction via reading-related tasks. The participants in this group read their writings and talked about the topic. At the same time, their instructor and the classmates raised their questions on the topic, and the students were supposed to answer the question orally and in a discussion format. The reading tasks included pre-reading passages related to the reading comprehension tasks that the participants were supposed to practice at home to engage the students in pre-reading passages prior to the reading task. In contrast, the control group received traditional and conventional methods for teaching speaking skills. The instruction lasted for eight sessions. Each session was for one hour and held twice a week. Finally, a posttest with similar content as the pretest was given to all the participants to measure their speaking achievement in English. At the end, the results were analyzed via an independent sample t-test. The findings revealed that reading-related tasks had a positively significant effect on Iranian EFL learners’ speaking skills. In addition, the results showed that the female group had a better performance on speaking skills compared to the male group due to reading-related tasks. Finally, the theoretical and pedagogical implications of the study were presented. Keywords: Iranian EFL Learners; Reading-related Tasks; Speaking Skill; Task Based Teaching
