Abstract: The paper discusses the importance of home culture and its relationship with com municative competence in College English learning. After analyzing learners’ pa ssive role or even failures in communicating in English, the authors point out t hat home culture is an indispensable part in constructing students’ social back ground, which guarantees successful communication in its true sense. The multi- nature of cultures, the two-way exchange in languages, the meaning of communica tive competence all contribute to the fact that the mere input of the target cul ture is far from enough. To solve the problem, both teachers and learners should develop their awareness of home culture. Enriching teaching materials and cours e design with Chinese culture may be a feasible remedy approach.