This paper discusses problems faced by Arab learners of English in general, focusing on problems specific to English language majors/graduates at Arab World University. It highlights the situation with Jordanian students, noting various causes of their problems with English (e.g., school and English language department curricula, teaching methodology, lack of exposure to the target language in language teaching, lack of exposure to the target language as spoken by native speakers, and student attitudes and motivation). The paper discusses the notion of communicative competence, in particular strategic competence, and its relationship with language teaching as it leads to learning. It defines strategic competence (the ability to use communication strategies to get a message across and compensate for limited knowledge of rules of the language), explains communication strategies (which are employed when the second language speaker encounters a problem in communication), and looks at taxonomies of communication strategies. The paper discusses how the use of communication strategies leads to learning and concludes with the pedagogical implications of using communication strategies. (Contains 35 references.) (SM)