Cross-didactics is a new term introduced by Dr. Paschalis Chliaras in order to meet the needs of his research concerning the “Concurrent Teaching of Two Related Languages in the Same Classroom”. It is the theory and practical application of teaching two similar language systems concurrently, which interact and affect both the linguistic performance and the linguistic development of the individual concerned. This typically refers two similar languages, for example, the influence of Italian or an Italian native speaker who is learning Spanish, French, Portuguese, Romanian or even English.
The theory of Cross-didactic Learning method focuses on the baseline cross-linguistic knowledge students acquire and seeks to improve upon and convey this information. It also refers to the foundation or starting point in a lesson plan consisting of concurrent teaching of two related languages in the same classroom, where the overall objective is cross-linguistic and multicultural awareness. An appropriately educated teacher functions in this role as an authoritative figure, but also as both a guide and a resource for students.
Actually, "dual language" is a form of education in which students are taught literacy and content in two languages. The majority of dual language programs in the United States teach in English and Spanish, although increasing numbers of programs use a partner language other than Spanish, such as Arabic, Chinese, French, Hawaiian, Japanese, or Korean.
The Cross-didactics could be related to dual language education but this is not the idea. It is mainly related to the simultaneous teaching of two semantically and pragmatically related languages in the same classroom. Both languages are foreign languages for the students. And this is my research. Greek pupils aged 6-10 have been taught English and Italian in the same classroom simultaneously: all the aformentioned pupils had no prior contact with these two languages and the findings have been amazing.
So they're both foreign languages for the learners? That's a very interesting idea: I'd be interested to see how English and Italian could support each other for Greek learners.
I think that the term Cross-didactics also covers the didactics of so called "Curricular area", which is a group of similar disciplines studied in school, with similar or identic competencies to be developed. Thus, similar strategies, resembling methods and sources could be used to develop similar competencies even if the contents are different when the students learn history, civic culture, sometimes geography or even religion.
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