Sony Kuriakose, India
I think the use of the mother tongue for providing 'meaning-equivalents' of certain words is perfectly legitimate and may even be desirable. This doesnot mean, however, that the mother tonque should be used indiscriminately. I teach in a government school run by the Oman government and I make it a point that I use the mother tongue of my students only judiciously; say for example, in explaining certain concepts which will enable my students to use English. It is important to understand when the mother tongue can be used and when it should not be used. I think our prime consideration in teaching English must be to provide as much practice as possible.

Marie Jones, England
It's obviously your decision, but my advice to you is no, do not use their L1 language. This could be a temporary crutch for you, but in the long run you are setting yourself up for a difficult path ahead. If you start using the students' L1 language they will expect it, and may not make the effort with L2.
Keep persisting and it will pay off, given a couple of months you will see the difference. Use gesture, tone, drawings, flashcards, diagrams.
Best of luck!

Kate M. Wong, Trinidad West Indies
Language learning is about taking risks and rising to the challenge. In a multi-lingual class it is virtually impossible to 'teach' in L1...which L1 would you, or could you choose? It is exciting to devise ways of presenting language in L2 so that learners can understand. Learners will also help each other come to an understanding using each other's language, some English and perhaps some teacher prompting. We establish L2 as the lingua franca in class, as a golden rule, using only snippets of L1 when it really helps. Building trust and confidence between everyone in the class means no-one is afraid to make mistakes, or take risks, as everyone is engaged in the teaching/learning process. Using dictionaries does not waste time, but encourages independent learning and student centredness. A lot of learning goes on outside the classroom between students, and if anyone has a serious problem, perhaps because they are 'blocking' it is arguably better to deal with it on an individual basis, if necessary with the help of a native speaker, after class. Maintaining L2 is worth the struggle, and often leads to the birth of fresh ideas and new approaches.

Ashraf-Sarrami, Iran
I teach English in highschools for different levels. This term I teach a pre-university class. I'm going to start my class in their native language, little by little I increase English speaking. I think using English totally makes the students feel bored at the very first level for adult learners, the aim of my teaching is to prepare my students to enter university so they must get familiar with doing tests and reading comprehension fast.

Abderrahim, Morocco
I think this is a universal problem. To use the mother tongue or not while teaching English depends on our objectives; what do we expect from our students? To be good speakers or just to pass a written exam at the end of a term. If it is the first so you should use English heavily; if it is the second there is no harm to explain your lessons in their mother tongue.

Andrea Howland, France
I've been working as an English trainer in the greater Metro-Paris region for a few years. During my TEFL training we were instructed only to use English during the lessons. At the beginning I tried this (it's sometimes very difficult!), but met up with resistance and frustration from lower level students. Now I put the responsibility on them, by bringing it up in the first class, which is to say, we set out guidelines for communication--how do they want to communicate, do they want to try all English? If it is really too difficult (they do not understand me at all) how can we overcome the language barrier? By gestures, drawings, explanations, and finally L1. By giving them the possibility to become proactive in their learning I've found they're more enthusiastic about using English, seeing understanding as being an opportunity and challenge rather than a return to the classroom. Although my learners are primarily adults, I do volunteer tutoring with adolescents on the weekends, and I've tried the same approach with them, and it's worked really well.

Jackie, Greece
I think it depends on the student/class. Beginners are often intimidated by the use of too much English in the beginning and feel reassured that the teacher can explain grammar and more difficult vocabulary in the students' own language. Nevertheless, they will become familiar with some English phrases and words from the start. E.g.; please sit down, please close the door, see you next week, have a good weekend. They love to be able to use such language right from the start. I think the teacher must decide how much and how little. I found that inserting English here and there and gradually increasing the amount depending of what feedback I got was the best way.

Chitrala Lakshimi, India
The going may be tough in the beginning, but with persistence and patience, the teacher will definitely be understood in the course of time. When one begins to teach in the mother tongue, the problem that arises is that students begin to translate everything from their mother tongue to the new language and then the problem arises, because the structures of the two languages are not the same. So why not continue to struggle for a few months and help students to begin to think in the foreign language so that the process of learning the language becomes a spontaneous process in due course.

Alicia Vera Coronado, Chile
I agree with the other teachers because is not easy to teach English so I use much English as possible but that is very important for me and my students. With the beginners I practice listening and reading comprehension but with the 7th and 8th grades the four skills.

Stanley M. Stephen, India
It is still being debated whether mother tongue is a facilitator or an interference in the learning of English as a second language. Mother tongue can be used sparingly in an English class. Profuse use of mother tongue will encourage the learners to think in the mother tongue and speak in English. This will lead to a lot of inter-lingual errors. The best option is to give the learners maximum exposure to the English language.

Roberta, Mexico
Although I am a firm believer of using only the target language in the classroom, there are times when the mother tongue should be used. The first class with beginners must have 15 to 20 minutes in the mother tongue in order to set down the class rules which will include using the target language only. Lots of my colleagues mentioned teaching grammar. My belief is that grammar should be taught inductively to beginners and introduced deductively gradually from intermediate to advanced. To teach inductively, we need to speak the target language to provide our students with a model to copy. This will prevent the need to explain grammar in the mother tongue. The only other time we need to use the mother tongue occurs when our students get that "stunned" look - you know, the look of total incomprehension - because it is then that you have lost them. Don't worry if they can't always respond in the target language, but encourage them to speak a mixture of the target language and mother tongue when they forget the word(s) they need to express. This will get peers to correct each other and "fill in the gaps". It will also get them to think in the target language more easily.

Ismail Kyooma Baguma, Uganda
Yes, go on but please balance how you use L1 in class. They should not take it for granted that they will be using L1 all the time because these are college students who will be leaving soon. At least they should have a feel of what L2 is by speaking and using it albeit with some mistakes, in their everyday communication. In Uganda, it is now a policy to teach in L1 in primary 1-3. These are pupils less that 10years.

Rajan, Nepal
I am an English teacher in Bal Batika English Boarding School, Biratangar, Nepal.As your problem, I am also facing the same problem here in my school though my school is English medium. My students also make me speak in their first language when I start teaching my subject in English. When they try to make me communicate in their first language, I advise them to use in English words if possible. Some words which can't be expressed in English, I make them understand in expression of these words with my bodily languages. I speak in simple language and ask them in the middle what I meant so that I assure of their understanding. Until and unless they agree to understand my teaching, I go on pursuing their abilities to understand only in English with the numerous relevant questions to the chapter I have taught but I never communicate in their first language because in my view, language can be learnt by regular practice of speaking and listening word to words. Therefore, I'd like to advise my dearest colleague to follow the medium of language i.e. English until the feedback of students come positively and I am sure they can succeed one day.

Chiara, Italy
I almost always use native language in class. I just think that I need to in order to explain grammar rules and I always get them to translate sentences on the spot as practice. I think it works quite well. Young children who don't require grammar explanations receive a lot more of English in repetition and drill form. Older kids usually get asked to translate a sentence or concept from their native language into English. I think this helps them work out grammatical structures. If they know what they want to say then they have to just incorporate the necessary components of the English language in order to communicate the idea.

Abdullah Humaid, Oman
I am teaching teenager learners who their level of English is too low. It is too weak to communicate with them using English only. So I start to give them some L1 (Arabic) as well in my lessons. I trained them to some classroom instructions in English till they are familiar with it. I think using L1 is helpful but be careful not to turn it to a lesson in their mother tongue.

Suma George, India
I'm facing the same problem with my students. Well, I personally think there is no harm in using their native language to teach them English at the beginning, slowly wean them off it unconsciously so then they get used to English, later on switch to completely English so that they are able to follow you in English.

Olushola Are, Nigeria
I wish I knew the age of your students, your course objectives, as well as the context in you operate. These are some of the factors that may determine how you continue. On a general note however, it is possible to build a good foundation with the MT and gradually increase the use of the target language until you can use it almost exclusively.

Vicky Johnson, UK
I teach Korean children at a small school where the children have to learn all the subjects in English. This is very stressful for the first few days, weeks even, but within a term the children are all able to take it in their stride. No teachers speak to them in their mother tongue in the classroom and most of them arrive in the country with a very low level. With children in small groups, I always provide them with a lot of paper to draw on themselves, as some of them are extremely good at explaining in pictures and diagrams, not only the teachers. I have found that it is extremely important to pitch the work at the right level so that they do not experience too much anxiety. However, if there is no challenge, there is little motivation. Getting the children to move about in the classroom is also effective and a really good coursebook, in which the children listen while reading and then repeat what they have heard, does wonders for pronunciation!

Khatera T. Afzali, Pakistan
Well, since I have been as an English teacher for many year, I have come to decide that using L1 inside class should be at least 15%. I believe that students observe everything through watching, listening and thinking. So why not to use these senses of our students in order to make them learn L2.

Ursula Huancas Donayre, Peru
I have the same problem even their parents want me to teach them English in Spanish (our mother tongue) but something that I learned was to change parents minds first and then make my students understand, by chatting with them, that English is another code that have some similarities with our native language but is not the same. So I use mother tongue, as a technique that is to say when absolutely necessary. It's a process so you need to be patient at the end you'll feel very glad of your students' progress.

Francis Boima, Russian Federation
I am writing to say that I do have the same problem of trying to avoid using the first language of my students while teaching them English, however, I must say that it is such a difficult situation that even when I teach students with sufficient proficiency in the English language, I am still being forced to explain certain things in their mother tongue or having to digress all the time trying to let them know that English punctuations are not the same as Russian ones, for example. In view of this, I would like to ask for some form of help in at least, trying to curb this anomaly.

Sue Sparks, UK
What do you do if you don't speak the learner's mother language? I am teaching a Kurdish refugee in the UK and previously a Turkish speaker in their homes. I bought an English picture dictionary and we have a Turkish-English dictionary for when communication totally breaks down. Grammar is tricky, as people have said. My experience learning German in Hamburg years ago was also inspiring - the students were all total beginners from many different countries attending a 4-week summer intensive course and the only common language was German. Our desire to communicate (and argue!) with each other could only be satisfied by trying to learn as much German as we could as fast as possible. The teachers were fantastic, using a great deal of mime, gesture, games etc.

Narayan Ji Choubey, India
The grammatical rules can be best explained by association of English language rule with that of the rule in the first language of the learners. Though this association cannot be established everywhere. But this should not be made a habit with learners. This is only to facilitate the learning of language rules. Their interest in learning is created this way.

Sangeeta Shrivastava, India
While teaching, pupils must be made to realise that they are learning a second language (SL). This would involve weaning them as much as possible from their first language (FL). After all a SL is learnt very much like the FL, i.e. through constant exposure. Hence use of FL as medium in teaching must be kept carefully to the minimum. While translating structures, care must be taken to explain the differences. Equivalence to a carefully restricted extent in vocabulary will help the pupils in having a requisite fund of words.

Abdelfattah Ahmad, UAE
It depends on how often the teacher resorts to L1. One can never learn a foreign language (English) without being exposed to it because acquiring a language is from a behaviouristic point of view is habit formation. Therefore, to master a language one needs to practice it and the teacher in classroom is a main source from which students can get the necessary language skills. However, L2 may be used for explaining difficult grammatical points and abstract vocabulary items.

Vijayashree Padmanabhan, India
It's true that most of the learners would like their English teachers to communicate with them in their mother tongue / national or regional language. They know it would be a green signal for them to start using their mother tongue in the English classes. Having understood this psychology of learners, I have always avoided the use of any other language in my English classes. I have been teaching English only through English for the past eighteen years. Though I know translation can be one of the methods to teach a language I don't resort to it. I firmly believe students can learn English only by listening to their English teachers and by expressing themselves in English.

Maria Grazia, Italy
I always try to remember that students (especially adults) have spoken their mother tongue since they were born and have studied their mother tongue grammar at several levels. I tend to speak Italian when explaining grammar to compare Italian and English structures (similarities and differences), this makes it easy for them to understand at a lower-intermediate level. Speaking is necessary but it does not have to prevent students from fully understanding the structures.

Camelia Santa, Romania
I tend to consider that sometimes you need to talk to your students in their national language, especially when teaching grammar aspects. But they also need to listen to English form time to time and if they don't do it themselves, the time spent in the class is the only chance for them to listen to some English. I must confess that I use Romanian from time to time, when teaching. I know it is not recommended, but those who don't understand English very well won't understand grammar very well, and moreover, they get bored if they don't understand.

Silvia Fink, Argentina
I think it's a problem that most of us have to face, but my student found interesting the lessons when I play with them Span-English lessons. They learn and laugh at the same time, what's more, some days later they carry on speaking what they thought was difficult for them.

Nick Dawson, UK
We need to recognise that every journey starts from home. The journey into a foreign language starts from the home language, the students' mother tongue. Comparative reference to the mother tongue can be very helpful in explaining grammatical systems especially if the students' mother tongue is related to Latin or German. Many teachers have correctly referred to the psychological stress for students. Perhaps surprisingly, very young children (under 9) are better able to interpret gesture, facial expression and other non-linguistic supports to communication. However, they also want to know that the 'safety net' of the mother tongue is always available. Teachers who try to eliminate the mother tongue from their English language classrooms, can never eliminate the mother tongue which is being used inside the students' brains. Mother tongue is a reality. We should not fight it, but exploit it. The questions, which remain, are Who uses L1? When is L1 used? How is L1 used? If, by using L1, we can make learning easier and more effective, we should use L1. We should not use L1 only to make life more comfortable for the students (or the teacher).

Nelson Toledo, Brazil
There are some important points for you to observe. If by using only English in class you notice that the distance between you and your students is increasing, do not run the risk and try to draw their attention by giving them instructions in their mother language. Surely it will reduce their anxiety and make the tasks look easier as well. Get along with their progress to start reducing the necessity of two languages in class, sure they will fell more conformable and encouraged this way.

Burcu Altiparmak, Turkey
I'm still an ELT student at a university in Turkey. Yet I believe I can give suggestions, share my ideas. I think if your students are at a lower level it may be useful (sometimes). But as you can guess students will probably take this as a habit and they will always want you to explain or clarify everything in their native language or translate, you should only apply this in real necessary situations not every time. I think it (translating into native language) is the easiest way to explain the problematic points while learning but not the most beneficial or effective one. You should apply other tools, or methods like realia, stories, situations, etc and of course the best material of a teacher is her/his body! Don't hesitate to use it for effective results..

Deniz, Turkey
I think you should go on with English; but firstly use their mother tongue so that their demand is met in some way but then you can increase the amount of English. Also you can help them gain confidence in English by using very simple activities that they can do at their own level.

Yurien Gutiérrez Alfonso, Cuba
I totally agree with you. I teach English in my country, and the English level of my students is very low. I almost never use our mother tongue in classes, I try to use gestures, pictures, songs, or whatever, to try to get them into the language. I also ask them to try to think in English, which will be easier for them. But at the end I have to use my language. The progress is very slow but at the end I can see results.

M. A. Shaikh, India
No harm in using the first language initially. It has been our experience that students automatically like to try using English. However this should not become a habit that would stick forever.

Intissar Abdulmonaem, Egypt
I think it is better to get your students feel familiar with the new language first by using their native language in giving directions, instructions and even in telling some jokes.

Then, and gradually they will accept the second tongue as they accept maths and science, but put in mind that it is very dangerous to depend completely on their mother language.

Maria Jose Boga, Argentina
Teaching beginners is not easy when it comes to being understood by our students. First of all, we should try and reduce their anxiety. I try to use as much English as possible, without forgetting to resort to gestures all the time. Using the native language is not a sin, we can shift into our mother tongue if we see anxiety levels go up, or their faces definitely show they haven't understood a thing. All this should be gradual. For example, when I give students the instructions to do a certain task, we can check comprehension by asking one of the students to translate them into L1. Repetition of certain classroom language items also helps. Good luck!

Guadalupe Valusso, Argentina
According to my experience, students are more comfortable when we speak the mother tongue because they are afraid of not understanding the foreign language. It is important to use the L1 to build a good rapport with them but you know, they can understand. Tell them that they have to make an effort to understand, it is difficult but tell them they are intelligent to do that. It is important to believe in our students, they have the potential, we have to help them to believe they are able to do that!

Sherry, France
It is important for students to feel confident enough to take risks when they use English. Collaborating by using shared knowledge of the first language can often allow students to trust the teacher and thus to achieve this confidence.
First language use is sometimes necessary in the classroom especially for learners in the early stages of language learning. Indeed first language use can save a lot of time searching through dictionaries and frustration for the students. As students become more proficient in their English use they will joyfully express their thoughts in English as far as their level allows. In the meantime, providing as many opportunities as possible for the students to express themselves in English at a level with which they feel comfortable would be useful for them.

George Steed, Poland
Yes! Do not hesitate to explain the meaning of English words and phrases in the L1. I regularly do this as I follow a coursebook lesson plan. You can then request the use of the English word or phrase demonstrating the mastery of it. You can also request students to use L2-L1 dictionaries to explain and acquire vocabulary. I often have a native speaker who is fluent in English help me. I suggest though that room signs and such be in English. You can label everything in English. Desk, Pen, Teacher, Student and so on...Immersion English is possible but it needs to be aided.

Alison Ayala, Mexico / Italy
I see nothing wrong with using the language of the country where you are teaching.

It certainly gives the students confidence to know that their teacher speaks their first language. If they have trouble at any given moment, they can be sure it will not halt the class. But it is advisable to use it only as a temporary crutch and to wean them off it as soon as possible. However, if the students do not all have the same first language it is not fair to teach in any language other than that to be learned.

Philip Duerdoth, Cyprus
Try one lesson in three or four teaching all or part of the lesson in the mother tongue and then a day or two later teaching the same or a similar lesson entirely in English. That way you're pleasing the kids and we hope not antagonising the management too much.

Mercedes Franceschinis, Argentina
As regards your question, I think that there is not a "sin" to use the mother tongue in the English classroom. Exposing our students to English alone is very stressing since they have to make a huge effort to understand and that affects their learning. What I usually do is delivering the class in the target language, mainly, but explain the language content in the mother tongue. Apart from that, I resort to the mother tongue every time I see they don't understand and their faces "ask for help". I hope to have been useful.

Nadeeka, Italy
One of the main problems of teaching students English in their first language is that they get dependent on it and always expect the teacher to use it in class. When the student's level of English is very poor the most important thing is to grade your language. Try to use pictures and gestures. Demonstrate an exercise clearly before you get them to do it. English teacher is sometimes the only English speaking person they meet regularly, they get to hear correct pronunciation if you use English in classroom rather than their first language.

Mkooi, Malaysia
I am an administrator in a Chinese primary school. I teach English for many years. I agree that students learn better by using their first language. They could used their mother tongue to talk, posing questions and understand better when teachers interpret the meaning of the vocabulary in Mandarin but they can't converse in English. This is a great problem I like to discuss with somebody. How am I to teach well in such a way in order to improve their proficiency level? I totally reject such method in teaching because without training in the 4 main skills i.e.: listening, speaking, reading and writing in English, the teaching considered as unsuccessful.

Pandi Arunachalam, Thailand
It is not going to pay any dividends if we teach L2 through L1.Let us make no mistake.
At the outset, it may seem easy and profitable but in the long run it will prove to be a lethargic journey. On the contrary, if we have the patience to continue to teach L2 through L2 only, then definitely, it will reward both the learner and teacher. All that we have to decipher is to how we are going to make it. It is simple. Try to know your students better- their aptitudes, background and the aim of learning- you can be in a commanding position to be on the driver seat. No method is the best. The more you understand your atmosphere, the better you will plan. Materials are there in plenty at our favourite site -http//www.teachingenglish.org.uk

Arunachalam.G, India
I'm a lecturer in English in a college run by the state government. I too confront the same question. But we cannot deny the fact that a skill can be learnt only by doing the act. One cannot learn swimming until he gets into a body of water. Motivating the learners to listen to English will help them develop. Try simple, small sentences with limited vocabulary. Ask a lot of questions to ensure their understanding. Get along with the pace of their learning. This is how I go about the task. The outcome is encouraging.

Bien R. Gruba III, Philippines
I am Bien. I teach ESL to Korean speakers. Here is my opinion: It is effective to use the native language of the student if the student is a beginner or a low-intermediate student. Using the student's native language increases communication between teacher and student; basic functional English like " What is the meaning of "A"? or How much is "A" can effectively be absorbed. However, as the student progresses the use of the native language must decrease. Beginners need their native language to support their transition into the second language. Yet once the student has enough vocabulary, listening and speaking skills, he can lower his reliance on his native language.

The difficult part to determine is knowing how long we must communicate with the student using the native language. I am also using Korean with my students, however, I am finding it difficult to determine how long I must use their language to communicate because I do not know how much they have progressed: Are they strong enough to only use English in class? Can they understand me at least 70 percent of the time if I only use English? I do not know how to assess their progress. I am still exploring this challenge up to know.

Veta, Greece
I am facing the same problem with some of my students. What I do is to try to build up their confidence by using some Greek first and then continue in English. Of course this way is a bit time consuming but it seems to help them.

Omar, Bahrain
One of the main problems of teaching students English in their first language is that they get dependent on it and always expect the teacher to use it in class. When the student's level of English is very poor the most important thing is to grade your language. Try to use pictures and gestures. Demonstrate an exercise clearly before you get them to do it. Their English teacher is sometimes the only English speaking person they meet regularly, and they get to hear correct pronunciation if you use English in classroom rather than their first language.

Philip Duerdoth, Cyprus
Looking at it from the student's point of view, I am very happy that I had a Cypriot teacher with an excellent command of English to teach me Greek for the first stage recently. I can't imagine how I would have made progress in Greek without having had the benefit of explanations in English, despite, for the last 40 years, having been a TEFLer promoting the idea of English only for learning English.

Giuliano, Italy
This is a dispute that has been going on for ages. Probably it will never end. We all learn languages by being exposed to them as much and as long as possible. However, in many cases, we teachers have a powerful tool to help us in our job and facilitate our students of English: L1. When it is needed. Does it sound too banal? After all, our knowledge of the world is constantly achieved by... comparison.

Rowena Glasfurd, India
As you may know, a language is seldom learnt … it is acquired. While teaching subjects such as science, maths, geography and the others, it definitely makes sense to explain concepts in the native language. But while learning a language, the learner will have to observe the patterns of pronunciation, sentence construction, stress, intonation etc. This kind of observation will help the learner understand the language in totality.
I live in Karnataka in India. The local language is Kannada. I was, at one time, fluent in the language because I interacted with people in Kannada, watched Kannada movies and even studied Kannada at school. But now, the numbers of people I interact with, in Kannada, have diminished and so has my capability to speak the language fluently.

An easy way of getting out of the situation, you are in is to give learners an example and get them to form similar structures and correct them when they go wrong. Initially you could concentrate on your power words (Yes, Good, Excellent) to encourage them when they say something correctly and point out at their errors asking them to reason why it was wrong to say what they said and getting them to suggest the correct form. Encourage them to explain in English. If their language is broken and incorrect, you will just have to repeat what they said in correct English. This way they will be able to take notice of their own errors and correct themselves when they are wrong. In addition they would also gradually begin to think in English thereby learning the language more completely.

Jordão Joanes, Brazil
I am an English student in Brazil and I have experience of teaching in monolingual classes. I think you shoud continue to use the linguistic code that they have knowledge of. If you do this (I believe) they will have the opportunity to compare the differences between the two languages and create new learning strategies. However, we have to be careful because we can, unconsciously, go back to the grammar translation method and as a result of this, "teach about the language" instead of "teaching the language".

Dmitry Gulik, Russia
I am a strong supporter of the as-much-L2-in-class-as-possible approach, although I do know from my own experience that rigidly sticking to English in a monolingual environment may sometimes (but not always!) be a real struggle. A foreign language teacher should be ready to assume the role of 'a foreigner'. Thinking of it as something awkward or embarrassing is just inappropriate for the profession. I strongly believe that all the small talk at the beginning of a class, the class procedure instructions, let alone the activities like discussions, answering quesions etc. that are supposed to be language practice, must be exclusively in L2. As for grammar presentations, for any particular grammar material I always try to find an effective inductive presentation that would require minimum explanation in L1, at best merely some comments and comparisons of the target structure with its equivalent(s) in L1. Nobody is perfect, and I occasionally resort to too much L1 in class, which then makes me feel guilty and frustrated. That usually happens when I haven't carefully prepared a grammar presentation and thus followed the line of least resistance of the banal, wordy explanations in L1. Anyway, communicating in a target language (both orally and through written texts) is a skill - like playing a musical instrument or driving a car. Any skill is a set of numerous habits that have to be methodically acquired and gradually developed in the learners, so you'll never make any progress in it if you don't try it.

Mahmood Barjasteh, Iran
Considering the fact that English is a vehicle for communication not an object to be studied, it seems vital to hold EFL/ESL classes in English. Otherwise, students will not use the language communicatively and will not venture to speak it in real-life situations. I believe L2 learners should not be allowed to use their mother tongue, but teachers can use it only for very abstract nouns to make the best of time and energy for more practical and productive activities.

Anna, Poland
It depends on the age of your students - I assume you don't teach YLs. In this case I would go for introducing English little by little. Of course, I only use English when explaining grammar; when I introduce new vocabulary I try to be creative, using pictures, mime and gesture. Having said that, I sometimes let the best students be translators for me and they love it!

Saya Min, Myanmar
I think you should use their native language as a secondary language. In your classroom, you should use English as the primary language. At first, you may have many difficulties in teaching, but later you will find that your students are improving in English. You could always have some objects beside you while you are teaching English so you can show each item to students when you introduce new vocabulary, and it is not necessary to use their native language.

Saya Min, Myanmar
In teaching a second language creating a natural environment for students is very important. Hence talking in the target language is a must. On the other hand, we can't talk in english to all levels. For example, who can teach students who are at starter level purely in English? To me teaching in English after intermediate level seems more logical.