【Abstract】As for college students， English become more and more important in many aspects .Out-of-class activities play avital role in improving the English Communicative Ability. American society linguist Dwell Hymes thinks： Communicative competence not only includes the understanding and grasp to a form of language， but also includes the understanding and mastering in when and where， and how and to whom to use language appropriate form of the communication systems of language. The essay tries to study the out-of-class English activities， for the purpose of attracting students’ interest in English communication， developing the college students’ learning strategy， the essay will a recommended plan based on the results of this investigation
　　【Key words】college students； communicative competence； learning strategies； out-of-class activities
　　Ⅰ. Introduction
　　As the development of the economy， culture and so on， English is used by people all over the world. In order to learn advanced scientific and technological knowledge， to strengthen economic trade with foreign countries， to exchange culture， we could learn English well. It is obvious that people all know the importance of English and Chinese students learn English from the primary school， but in the recent years people usually think the English condition of Chinese students as “mute English” or “deaf English”. Out-of-class English activities may improve their skills and develop their quality.
　　Ⅱ. Literature Review
　　The renowned philosopher in ancient Greece—Plot， studied on the topic of out-of-class activities， he advocates “the child play-ground” educational mode.“Direct experience” was raised by Rousseau in 18th century and had been accepted widely. In the 19th century in the United States， the first school in the world which uses activity curriculum theory as teaching guidance and the traditional courses began to be criticized. The experiment had profound effects.
　　Ⅲ. The Drawbacks of Present English Teaching
　　First， because of examination-oriented education model， teachers and students put the importance on scores exceedingly. Students can get high scores easily， but they can’t communicate with people using English. Second，， students are just passively receiving the knowledge and recording the massive notes. Third， teachers often teach and explain by using Chinese.
　　Ⅳ. Out-of-class Activities and Development of Communication Competence
　　A. Current Situation of College Students’ Out-of-class Learning