[kisito]

There are definitely times when L1 can be used in the classroom. May be it is a good idea to ask your school for a T.A (Teaching Assistant) who is normally a native speaker of the students' language, but understands English. I teach in China and our school gives us T.As for lower levels. I speak Chinese and sometimes I get tempted to use Chinese to explain some complex game rules for example. At first when I spoke Chinese to my students, the result was always catastrophic. They always wanted to speak Chinese to me instead of English. So I asked for a T.A in my kids classes to explain rules of some activities then I will proceed in English. The thing is that when the students condition their minds to always think and speak English when approaching their English teacher, it is best for them. Remember L1 is strongly rooted in their brains and has the effect of always rerouting students' thoughts back to L1 instead of English. I can therefore understand why some schools strongly ban L1 in the classroom. But to me that is not realistic. As long as you set up proper messures to help your students see L1 in the classroom, as "just an aid" , then that sounds fine for me. It doesn't steal the focus or hamper their learning.
It is even harder in my case when students find out I can speak Chinese. I have to set up firm rules in my classroom. I even have a points system where whispering in Chinese or talking to the teacher or classmates in Chinese leads to a deduction of points. The group that uses a lot more English scores higher. This system has worked in my Kids and teenage classes ever since L1 became a problem in my lessons. Today, my Chinese students know that I speak Chinese, and they know that 1% of the time I will give instructions in Chinese, but they cannot ask questions to me in Chinese.To them, I am their foreign English teacher whom they must speak to in English.