This paper investigates the effectiveness of using communicative activities and explicit instruction of pragmatics in developing the English speaking ability of Egyptian college students. The study adopted the quasi-experimental pretest- posttest control group design. Quantitative data collected was statistically analyzed to validate the research hypotheses while a qualitative discourse analytic approach was used to examine the changes in the control group strategies in performing the selected speech acts before and after the treatment. Results of data analysis revealed that the experimental group students outperformed their control group counterparts in overall speaking proficiency. Besides, the discourse analysis of participants' responses in the pre-posttest role-plays suggested a considerable degree of improvement towards the sociopragmatic norms of the target language