The increasing arrival of immigrant children to our country has transformed our schools, in which the ethnic, cultural and linguistics diversity is ever more evident. This circumstance, although present all over Spain, acquires a special relevance in the case of Catalonia where the Educational System is organised under the parameters of bilingual education. The most important theoretical framework that sustains the educational model adopted is the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis, developed by Jim Cummins in the 80's. This Hypothesis purports the notion that, if some conditions are favourable, abilities acquired in a certain language (Lx) can be transferred to another (Ly). Based on this framework, a sample of 121 students (93 native and 28 immigrant) were evaluated with various parallel tests to assess their abilities in Catalan and Spanish. The paper concludes on the validity of the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis in its application to immigrant schoolchildren. In addition, data is presented that allows us to discern which abilities are transferred, and some implications for educational practice are analysed. © 2008 Fundación Infancia y Aprendizaje.

L1/L2/L3 transfer Immigrant students Interdepence

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