Resumen de Language development among immigrant students in Catalonia: a two-wave design study of written and oral competences in a multilingual educational context

Fernando Senar Morera, Anna Amadó Codony, Judit Janés Carulla , Ángel Huguet Canalis

• The development of linguistic ability in immigrant students is a keyelement in reducing the high rates of school failure and dropoutthat disproportionately affect this group. This study adopts aquantitative two-wave design to examine the development ofvarious oral and written linguistic skills in a sample of 72immigrant students in compulsory secondary education inCatalonia. Over two years, corresponding to the second cycle ofcompulsory secondary education, this development was assessedin the two official languages of Catalonia: Catalan and Spanish.The results showed a significant overall improvement in thelearning of both languages. However, differences were observedwhen breaking down the linguistic components: morphosyntaximproved notably in both languages, while reading did not showthe same progression. These findings highlight the need toreview how linguistic competences are addressed in the curriculaimplemented by the Catalan education system to ensureacademic success among immigrant students.