The adoption, now fifteen years ago, of an approach to the teaching of French that took precedence over the use of the language in the classroom made us anticipate that an adequate command of this foreign language would be got. However, the level of the students has been lowered and teachers are not completely used to the new methodology. We analyze the concepts that, in its limited actual application, cause (from our own viewpoint) an impoverished use of the language: communicative context, discourse approach, text function, grammar and vocabulary. Similarly, we stress the lack of teaching training and the programme deficiencies found in textbooks as the fundamental responsible factors for the poor success of the Communicative approach.