This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of explicit formal instruction (EFI) on speaking and pronunciation skills among a Kurdish university's first-year EFL students. The researcher was teaching a communications unit, where the focus was on speaking skills and pronunciation: speech rate (words per minute), fluency (number of pauses and fillers), and accuracy (sound production, accurate word pronunciation, grammar, and sentence structure). During two semesters (24 weeks) learners received EFI and "explicit pronunciation training" (EPT). The data were collected through video recordings at two points in time: at the beginning of the course and the end of it and an interview. The results revealed that EFI and EPT had significant effects on learners' speech rate and fluency improvement, whereas their accuracy was affected but not as much as speech rate and fluency. This study offers several pedagogical and theoretical implications.