I certainly understand what your saying,Howard. As I said I DO use a little L1 in the classroom sometimes, and yes previous bosses and parents have encouraged me to use more L1.

In the short term it can help some of the slackers whose L2 is low or virtually non-existent, but at the same time I think too much L1 can actually stunt the progress of more able students.

What I often do is ask the stronger ones to personally help the weaker ones. I often have to keep reminding them to reply in English when I ask a question,so I think to much L1 from me would be contradictory and a bad example.

All the best!