Abstract:Through investigations, it is evident that college English teachers have two main misunderstandings of communicative activities in English speaking teaching. It is believed that one activity is communicative as long as it makes students“speak out”. It is also believed that only totally-free communicative activities are communicative and therefore can improve communicative competence. These two misunderstandings lead to the misuse of communicative activities. For one thing, teachers use“fake”communicative activities; for another, teachers only use totally-free communicative activities. In order to eliminate these misunderstandings, teachers need a correct understanding of communicative activities. Meanwhile, it could be helpful if college English teachers rationally apply the“semi-communicative activities”which are in the“communication continuum”in teaching English speaking. If so, teachers may implement communicative activities which are really suitable for students’English levels and better utilize CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) in China. Thus, an effective way to reform English speaking teaching in Chinese colleges might be found.