Whilst teacher’s may favour the use of the L2, the L1 is just as important in order to “maintain student’s attention, interest or involvement” (Careless, 2007) in the activities that have been set. It has been found that if students feel comfortable in the environment and the people they will be more likely to take part and interact with others of their own free will, which in many cases is due to the use of the L1. Schweers Jr. (2003) supports this as he found that students felt strongly about the use of the L1 in order to make them feel more comfortable and confident during lessons (Schweers Jr, 2003).
The main way in which teachers allow the use of the L1 during classes is to explain grammar and vocabulary (Careless, 2007), as well as give meaning to new words, which are often words that are used in their L2. One method that supports the use of L1 use in the foreign language classroom is the Grammar Translation Method, which “allows the use of the L1 in order to explain new items and allow comparisons to be made between the foreign language L2 and the L1” (Shuchi and Islam, 2016:p.63). Teachers have also found that by allowing the use of L1 in the foreign language classroom it enables language transfer, where elements of their L1 being to appear in their L2, such as their “phonology, grammar and lexis” (Shuchi and Islam, 2016).
In addition, the L1 is also used to give instructions, feedback and manage the classroom. In many foreign language classroom situations the teacher’s will try to limit the amount of the L1 that they use in order to develop the student’s L2 and allow them to understand the L2 in different contexts in their everyday lives. It has also been found that in a lot of foreign language classrooms the abilities of the students ranges greatly (Sharaeai, 2012), so whilst some may gain an additional language quickly for other it may be more of a struggle. Therefore those of a lower second language ability may be taught using more of their L1 in contrast to those students who are seen to be of a higher second language ability. However, the amount of L1 usage in these lessons is based on the teacher’s decision whether to include the L1 into the L2 foreign language classroom.