I am a research fellow and instructor at the Faculty of Modern Languages, University of Warsaw. My research focuses on syntax, cross‑linguistic influence, and communication abilities in bilingual, multilingual, and plurilingual settings, especially as these phenomena relate to language learning and acquisition. Methodologically, I combine experimental psycholinguistic methods and natural language processing approaches.
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Linguistics and Language, Psychology, Speech and Hearing, Computer Science Applications
Angelman syndrome in Poland: current diagnosis and therapy status—the caregiver perspective: a questionnaire study Agata Suleja, Katarzyna Milska-Musa, Łukasz Przysło, Marzena Bednarczyk, Marcin Kostecki, Dominik Cysewski, Paweł Matryba, Anna Rozensztrauch, Michał Dwornik, Marcin Opacki, Robert Śmigiel, Kacper Łukasiewicz Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases, 2024 Background Angelman syndrome (AS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disease caused by imprinting disorders that impede the production of the ubiquitin E3A ligase protein (UBE3A). AS affects multiple systems, with the main symptoms including epilepsy, psychomotor disorders and speech development disorders. To date, no study has been conducted in the Polish population to verify the condition's diagnosis and treatment process. Results Seventy patients with the median age of 60 months were included into the analysis. 80% of patients were diagnosed with deletion, 19.9% with a mutation of UBE3A gene, 4.3% with paternal uniparental disomy (UPD) and 2.8% with an imprinting defect. The mean age of first symptoms was 5 months, while the mean age of diagnosis was 29 months (earliest in deletion group at 23 months), and the median duration of diagnosis process was 7 months. The average time to a clinical geneticist appointment was 3 months. 37.9% of the patients initially received a different diagnosis. Epileptic seizures were present in 88.6% of the individuals. 98.6% of the studied group were under care of a pediatric neurologist, 47.1% of a gastroenterologist. A ketogenic diet was used in 7.1% of patients. Caregivers identified finding a specialist suitable for AS patients and access to genetic testing as the biggest problems. Conclusions The care of patients with AS in Poland is carried out according to the European and world standards, however there is an impeded access to clinical geneticist, and the knowledge about rare diseases among primary healthcare physicians could be improved. Moreover, access to AS care specialists and coordination of care is limited. There is a need for creation a specialized centers and databases for AS patients.
Cross-linguistic influences, language proficiency and metalinguistic knowledge in L3 Italian subject placement Małgorzata Foryś-Nogala, Olga Broniś, Marcin Opacki, Agnieszka Otwinowska International Journal of Multilingualism, 2023 L3 acquisition is influenced by L1-L3 typology, learners’ proficiency in those languages, and metalinguistic knowledge. However, the precise patterns of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in L3 acquisition are still unclear. This study aimed to examine how the abovementioned factors affect learners’ sensitivity to subject placement in L3 Italian. We examined L1-Polish speakers (pro-drop language) with L2-English (non-pro-drop) learning Italian as their L3 (pro-drop). Subject placement patterns are shared by Polish and Italian, but differ from English, which may cause positive CLI from L1 or negative CLI from L2. To verify which is the case, 49 Polish undergraduate students of Italian took part in a computerised acceptability judgment task (AJT), which contained exemplars of felicitous and infelicitous subject placement in Italian. We also measured the participants’ knowledge of English and Italian, their background languages, and their metalinguistic knowledge. The results showed that the participants lacked sensitivity to the overuse of both overt and null subjects. A subsequent regression analysis revealed L3 proficiency as the only significant predictor of AJT performance. Our data point to some negative CLI from L2 English at lower levels of L3-Italian, or general cognitively-grounded problems with null subjects, which are gradually reduced with the growth of L3 proficiency.
Polish–English bilingual children overuse referential markers: MLU inflation in Polish-language narratives Agnieszka Otwinowska, Marcin Opacki, Karolina Mieszkowska, Marta Białecka-Pikul, Zofia Wodniecka, Ewa Haman First Language, 2022 Polish and English differ in the surface realization of the underlying Determiner Phrase (DP): Polish lacks an article system, whereas English makes use of articles for both grammatical and pragmatic reasons. This difference has an impact on how referentiality is rendered in both languages. In this article, the authors investigate the use of referential markers by Polish–English bilingual children and Polish monolingual children. Using the LITMUS-MAIN picture stories, the authors collected speech samples of Polish–English bilinguals raised in the UK ( n = 92, mean age 5;7) and compared them with matched Polish monolinguals ( n = 92, mean age 5;7). The analyses revealed that the bilinguals’ mean length of utterance (MLU) in Polish was significantly higher than that of the monolinguals because the bilinguals produced significantly more referential markers (especially pronouns) which inflated their MLU. The authors posit that the non-standard referentiality used by the bilinguals in Polish is caused by cross-language transfer at the syntax–pragmatics interface. When producing narratives in Polish, Polish–English bilinguals overuse referential markers as cohesive devices in their stories, which is not ungrammatical, but pragmatically odd in Polish. Bilinguals tend to do this because they are immersed in English-language input, rich in overt pronouns. Thus, in the process of realizing the surface features of the Polish DP they partly rely on an underlying English DP structure.
Does L2 Proficiency Impact L2-L1 Transfer While Reading L1 Collocations? Evidence From Behavioral and ERP Data Agnieszka Otwinowska, Marta Marecka, Alba Casado, Joanna Durlik, Jakub Szewczyk, Marcin Opacki, Zofia Wodniecka Frontiers in Psychology, 2021 Multi-word expressions (MWEs) are fixed, conventional phrases often used by native speakers of a given language (L1). The type of MWEs investigated in this study were collocations. For bilinguals who have intensive contact with the second language (L2), collocational patterns can be transferred from the L2 to the L1 as a result of cross-linguistic influence (CLI). For example, bilingual migrants can accept collocations from their L2 translated to their L1 as correct. In this study, we asked whether such CLI is possible in native speakers living in the L1 environment and whether it depends on their L2 English proficiency. To this end, we created three lists of expressions in Polish: (1) well-formed Polish verb-noun collocations (e.g.,ma sens–∗has sense), (2) collocational calques from English (loan translations), where the English verb was replaced by a Polish translation equivalent (e.g.,∗robi sens– makes sense), and, as a reference (3) absurd verb-noun expression, where the verb did not collocate with the noun (e.g.,∗zjada sens–∗eats sense). We embedded the three types of collocations in sentences and presented them to L1 Polish participants of varying L2 English proficiency in two experiments. We investigated whether L2 calques would (1) be explicitly judged as non-native in the L1; (2) whether they would evoke differential brain response than native L1 Polish equivalents in the event-related potentials (ERPs). We also explored whether the sensitivity to CLI in calques depended on participants’ level of proficiency in L2 English. The results indicated that native speakers of Polish assessed the calques from English as less acceptable than the correct Polish collocations. Still, there was no difference in online processing of correct and calques collocations as measured by the ERPs. This suggests a dissociation between explicit offline judgments and indices of online language processing. Interestingly, English L2 proficiency did not modulate these effects. The results indicate that the influence of English on Polish is so pervasive that collocational calques from this language are likely to become accepted and used by Poles.
Retelling a model story improves the narratives of Polish-English bilingual children Agnieszka Otwinowska, Karolina Mieszkowska, Marta Białecka-Pikul, Marcin Opacki, Ewa Haman International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2020 Reading and telling stories to children improves their narrative skills, which is well-documented for monolinguals, but not for bilinguals. We investigated whether bilingual narratives improve when the child is provided with a model story. We studied the narratives of Polish-English bilingual children (n = 75, mean age 5;7 years; months) raised in the UK. We elicited narratives through picture stories in two modes: told spontaneously and retold after a model provided by an adult experimenter. The bilinguals told and retold stories in Polish and English. The study combined a within-subject design, comparing the bilinguals’ two languages, and a between-subject design, comparing the stories told and retold in Polish by the bilinguals and by Polish age-matched monolinguals (n = 75). We investigated whether retelling might improve bilingual and monolingual storytelling to the same extent. In the stories, we assessed both the macrostructure (e.g. story structure and answered comprehension questions) and microstructure (e.g. type-token ratio). We found a positive effect of retelling for the macrostructure in both monolinguals and bilinguals (regardless of the language). As for the microstructure, when retelling, children told longer stories, regardless of the language (Polish, English) and group (bilingual, monolingual). We argue that retelling stories improves the narrative skills of bilinguals.
Predictors of communication ability in Angelman syndrome: evidence from Polish individuals M Opacki, A Suleja, R Śmigiel, D Cysewski, K Łukasiewicz Journal of Communication Disorders, 106624 , 2026 2026.0 Citations: 1
Angelman syndrome in Poland: current diagnosis and therapy status—the caregiver perspective: a questionnaire study A Suleja, K Milska-Musa, Ł Przysło, M Bednarczyk, M Kostecki, ... Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases 19 (1), 306 , 2024 2024.0 Citations: 10
Cross-linguistic influences, language proficiency and metalinguistic knowledge in L3 Italian subject placement M Foryś-Nogala, O Broniś, M Opacki, A Otwinowska International Journal of Multilingualism 20 (2), 308-328 , 2023 2023.0 Citations: 18
Perfunctory gamification in the world of second language learning M Opacki Journal of China Computer-Assisted Language Learning 2 (2), 179-202 , 2023 2023.0 Citations: 3
Polish–English bilingual children overuse referential markers: MLU inflation in Polish-language narratives A Otwinowska, M Opacki, K Mieszkowska, M Białecka-Pikul, Z Wodniecka, ... First Language 42 (2), 191-215 , 2022 2022.0 Citations: 28
Does L2 proficiency impact L2-L1 transfer while reading L1 collocations? Evidence from behavioral and ERP data A Otwinowska, M Marecka, A Casado, J Durlik, J Szewczyk, M Opacki, ... Frontiers in psychology 12, 673761 , 2021 2021.0 Citations: 5
Retelling a model story improves the narratives of Polish-English bilingual children A Otwinowska, K Mieszkowska, M Białecka-Pikul, M Opacki, E Haman International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism , 2020 2020.0 Citations: 107
Polish MAIN: how was it developed and how has it been used so far? K Mieszkowska, A Otwinowska, M Białecka-Pikul, D Kiebzak-Mandera, ... 2020.0 Citations: 5
Innovative CLIL practices in Europe. An overview of the field R Gozdawa-Gołębiowski, M Opacki The Polish Journal of Continuing Education 1, 86-103 , 2020 2020.0 Citations: 3
State of the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): implementation in vocational schools across Europe R Gozdawa-Gołębiowski, B Nawrot-Lis, M Opacki, K Skoczylas Polish Journal of Continuing Education 3 (106), 169-189 , 2019 2019.0 Citations: 5
Recurrent strings in corpus-based pedagogical research: A reappraisal of the field R Gozdawa-Gołębiowski, M Opacki Glottodidactica. An International Journal of Applied Linguistics 45 (2), 134-149 , 2018 2018.0 Citations: 3
Walenty (2018-06-29) B Alberski, J Andrejewicz, U Andrejewicz, A Andrzejczuk, P Batko, ... Institute of Computer Science, Polish Academy of Sciences , 2018 2018.0 Citations: 1
Towards a distribution-based corpus analysis of transfer-susceptible NP modifiers. A case of Polish advanced users of L2 English. M Opacki, R Gozdawa-Gołębiowski Konin Language Studies 1 (5), 9-35 , 2017 2017.0 Citations: 2
Reconsidering early bilingualism: A corpus-based study of Polish migrant children in the United Kingdom M Opacki (No Title) , 2016 2016.0 Citations: 7
Narratives in the Assessment of Polish - English Bilingual Children MBP Agnieszka Otwinowska - Kasztelanic, Marcin Opacki, Karolina Mieszkowska International Symposium on Bilingualism 10 , 2015 2015.0
Narrative Assessment of Polish-English Bilingual Pre-schoolers M Opacki, A Otwinowska-Kasztelanic AAAL Annual Conference, Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront, Portland, OR , 2014 2014.0
Interlanguage: a Sui Generis Grammar M Opacki Język w Poznaniu 4, 187-198 , 2014 2014.0
Stylometry and Authorship Attribution M Opacki http://www.academia.edu/20407527/stylometry-and-authorship-attribution , 2013 2013.0
Technologie informacyjne 3301-L2TI M Opacki
Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education I 3301-ZJ-JS003 R Gozdawa-Gołębiowski, M Opacki
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
Retelling a model story improves the narratives of Polish-English bilingual children A Otwinowska, K Mieszkowska, M Białecka-Pikul, M Opacki, E Haman International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism , 2020 2020.0 Citations: 107
Polish–English bilingual children overuse referential markers: MLU inflation in Polish-language narratives A Otwinowska, M Opacki, K Mieszkowska, M Białecka-Pikul, Z Wodniecka, ... First Language 42 (2), 191-215 , 2022 2022.0 Citations: 28
Cross-linguistic influences, language proficiency and metalinguistic knowledge in L3 Italian subject placement M Foryś-Nogala, O Broniś, M Opacki, A Otwinowska International Journal of Multilingualism 20 (2), 308-328 , 2023 2023.0 Citations: 18
Angelman syndrome in Poland: current diagnosis and therapy status—the caregiver perspective: a questionnaire study A Suleja, K Milska-Musa, Ł Przysło, M Bednarczyk, M Kostecki, ... Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases 19 (1), 306 , 2024 2024.0 Citations: 10
Reconsidering early bilingualism: A corpus-based study of Polish migrant children in the United Kingdom M Opacki (No Title) , 2016 2016.0 Citations: 7
Does L2 proficiency impact L2-L1 transfer while reading L1 collocations? Evidence from behavioral and ERP data A Otwinowska, M Marecka, A Casado, J Durlik, J Szewczyk, M Opacki, ... Frontiers in psychology 12, 673761 , 2021 2021.0 Citations: 5
Polish MAIN: how was it developed and how has it been used so far? K Mieszkowska, A Otwinowska, M Białecka-Pikul, D Kiebzak-Mandera, ... 2020.0 Citations: 5
State of the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): implementation in vocational schools across Europe R Gozdawa-Gołębiowski, B Nawrot-Lis, M Opacki, K Skoczylas Polish Journal of Continuing Education 3 (106), 169-189 , 2019 2019.0 Citations: 5
Perfunctory gamification in the world of second language learning M Opacki Journal of China Computer-Assisted Language Learning 2 (2), 179-202 , 2023 2023.0 Citations: 3
Innovative CLIL practices in Europe. An overview of the field R Gozdawa-Gołębiowski, M Opacki The Polish Journal of Continuing Education 1, 86-103 , 2020 2020.0 Citations: 3
Recurrent strings in corpus-based pedagogical research: A reappraisal of the field R Gozdawa-Gołębiowski, M Opacki Glottodidactica. An International Journal of Applied Linguistics 45 (2), 134-149 , 2018 2018.0 Citations: 3
Towards a distribution-based corpus analysis of transfer-susceptible NP modifiers. A case of Polish advanced users of L2 English. M Opacki, R Gozdawa-Gołębiowski Konin Language Studies 1 (5), 9-35 , 2017 2017.0 Citations: 2
Predictors of communication ability in Angelman syndrome: evidence from Polish individuals M Opacki, A Suleja, R Śmigiel, D Cysewski, K Łukasiewicz Journal of Communication Disorders, 106624 , 2026 2026.0 Citations: 1
Walenty (2018-06-29) B Alberski, J Andrejewicz, U Andrejewicz, A Andrzejczuk, P Batko, ... Institute of Computer Science, Polish Academy of Sciences , 2018 2018.0 Citations: 1
Narratives in the Assessment of Polish-English Bilingual Children A Otwinowska-Kasztelanic, M Opacki, K Mieszkowska Citations: 1
Narratives in the Assessment of Polish - English Bilingual Children MBP Agnieszka Otwinowska - Kasztelanic, Marcin Opacki, Karolina Mieszkowska International Symposium on Bilingualism 10 , 2015 2015.0
Narrative Assessment of Polish-English Bilingual Pre-schoolers M Opacki, A Otwinowska-Kasztelanic AAAL Annual Conference, Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront, Portland, OR , 2014 2014.0
Interlanguage: a Sui Generis Grammar M Opacki Język w Poznaniu 4, 187-198 , 2014 2014.0
Stylometry and Authorship Attribution M Opacki http://www.academia.edu/20407527/stylometry-and-authorship-attribution , 2013 2013.0
