The communicative approach has been widely accepted andused in language teaching since the 1970s in western countriesand has proved to be quite effective.However,in Chineseclassrooms,it doesn’t seem as effective as it is in a westerncontext.This paper analyses the cultural barriers to theapplication of the communicative approach in Chineseclassrooms.Namely,the acceptance of relationships based onpower and authority;the collectivism orientation of Chinasociety and the concept of"face"are three cultural factors thathinder effective communicative language teaching in China.