Communicative competence in English language is be! ieved Lo be affected by the type of strategies used by English as foreign language learners. Three approaches are thought to contribute to the success of English as a foreign language learning namelv communicative learning. reading for pleasure and acculturation strategies. And in this study the researcher endeavored to survev the foreign language learning strategies employed by English asforeign language learners. English Department students of Bahir Dar University were the subjects of this investigation. All (! 65) year If and year Ill ....... regular English Department students were included in the study. A closed ended questionnaire that is organized in to three parts was used as a tool of data collection. The analysis is conducted using descriptive statistics and narration. The findings of the studv revealed that majority of the respondents were not seemingly ., using the three specific strategies that help in the improvement of communicative competence such as dependence on textbooks and less motivation for additional references. less willingness to learn· cultures of English native speakers . failure of .using English language for communication outside the classroom environment. However. less accessibility of crucial facilities in the university. methodologies employed by instructors. learning English mainly for ac~demic than communication purpose were also some of thefactors that had probably contributed/or the result obtained Some options that are assumed to alleviate •. the challenges observed are alsoforwarded.