This paper investigates the efficiency of text messaging in the English as a foreign language (EFL) reading classroom at the Islamic Azad University-South Tehran Branch, Iran. After administration of an Oxford Placement Test (OPT), 74 participants who scored between ± 1 standard deviation of the mean were randomly assigned to an experimental and a control groups, with 37 individuals each. The reading part of the Preliminary English Test (PET) was administered as a pretest. The experimental group received 108 words via short messages in 18 sessions. During each session, they received 6 sentences with 6 words in a meaningful context. In contrast, the control group received traditional instruction. They were given the same structural points through inductive and deductive instruction in the classroom, and the words were presented while teaching each unit. After finishing the treatment procedure, the students in both groups were assigned to do a reading posttest. The results of the ANCOVA revealed no meaningful discrepancy between both groups based on the reading scores. Thus, vocabulary learning via short messages did not affect Iranian EFL learners` ability to comprehend pre-intermediate level texts.