In this correlational study, we analyzed data from 71 Spanish-English biliterate students in grades 3 (n=21), 4 (n=23), and 5 (n=27) with the goal of investigating the applicability of the Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Hoover & Gough, 1990) in English and in Spanish for this population. The simple view posits that decoding (the ability to read words) and linguistic comprehension (the ability to understand language) both contribute uniquely in predicting reading comprehension, but that they also theoretically and statistically interact with one another. Using this model, we sought to determine whether the rea- ding process was comparable between Spanish, a transparent orthography, and English, an opaque orthography. We collected analogue measures of reading comprehension, real-word reading (a proxy for decoding), and language proficiency (measures of syntax, morphology, and broad vocabulary) in Spanish and English to model the Simple View. Results showed that, for Spanish, language skills and decoding both made significant contributions to reading comprehension, in line with theoretical predictions. However, no interactions bet- ween decoding and language were detected. In English, by contrast, decoding and language both made independent contributions to reading in addition to a significant interaction effect that showed students with weaker language skills benefitting more from decoding than students with stronger language skills.