NEED Team
Agnieszka Kałdonek-Crnjaković
Agnieszka Kałdonek-Crnjaković, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Institute of English Studies (Faculty of Modern Languages, University of Warsaw, Poland), where she teaches courses on additional language learning and teaching in the context of special educational needs and neurodiversity. She is the founder and coordinator of the faculty research group Neurodiversity in Language Education (NEED, www.need.uw.edu.pl). Her current research interests include the effect of ADHD on additional language skills development and inclusive language use in dyslexia and ADHD research contexts. Before joining the academia in 2018, she worked as a foreign/second language teacher and special needs teacher in Croatia, Poland, and the UK. She held a qualified teacher status and obtained the Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations Level 5 and 7 Diploma in assessing and teaching learners with dyslexia/specific learning difficulties. She also acted as a Special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) in an all-through state school in London, UK.
a.kaldonek2@uw.edu.pl
Tanja Angelovska
Tanja Angelovska is a Full Professor and Chair of "Research on foreign language learning and teaching" at the Institute for English/American Studies at the University of Kassel in Germany. Her research areas include psycholinguistics and L2/L3 acquisition and teaching. She is an associate editor of Ampersand: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Language Sciences and Bilingualism (Elsevier) and has published research in several journals, including Applied Linguistics Review; International Journal of Bilingualism; International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching; Instructed Second Language Acquisition; Languages; Language Awareness; Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, among others. She is co-author of Second Language Acquisition: A Theoretical Introduction to Real World Applications (Bloomsbury, 2016) and co-editor of L3 Syntactic Transfer (Benjamins, 2017).
angelovska@uni-kassel.de
Usree Bhattacharya
Usree Bhattacharya is an Associate Professor in the Language and Literacy Education Department of the University of Georgia, USA. Her research occurrs at the intersection of disability, multilingualism, and Artificial Intelligence. She also directs Rett Lab@UGA, studying eye-tracking augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for Rett syndrome.
ubhattacharya@uga.edu
Agnieszka Błaszczak
Agnieszka Błaszczak, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Applied Linguistics, University of Warsaw. She was awarded the Rector’s Teaching Award in 2022. She served as Head of Studies and Director of Student Affairs (2022-2024) and currently holds the positions of Vice Dean and Head of the Didactic Unit (2024-2028). Her research focuses on foreign language teaching and learning, special educational needs, inclusivity in education, and eye-tracking research. She participates in scientific conferences on EFL topics and conducts classes at selected European universities as part of the Erasmus+ academic staff exchange program.
a.blaszczak@uw.edu.pl
Jasenka Čengić
Jasenka Čengić holds a PhD in applied linguistics from the University of Zagreb and has over a decade of experience teaching English at various levels. Her research specializes in young learners’ language aptitude, metalinguistic awareness, initial language teacher education and teacher assessment practices. With numerous publications and contributions to international conferences like EUROSLA and AAAL, she also won a Research/Practitioner Grant for her research with the TOEFL Junior test and Croatian young learners. Dedicated to advancing both research and practice, Dr. Čengić currently works both as a young learner teacher and a university lecturer.
jasenka.cengic@gmail.com
Karolina Czopek
Karolina Czopek is a linguist and anthropologist with a PhD in Linguistics. She has taught courses on research methods and academic skills and has worked on research projects focused on social networks (NCN) and accessibility (4EU+).
Her research projects have explored language acquisition in older age, emotions in language learning, and individual differences in learning processes.
Roberto Filippi
Roberto Filippi is a Professor at UCL - Institute of Education (London, UK) and directs the Multilanguage and Cognition Lab (MULTAC). His research focuses on the cognitive impacts of multilingualism, particularly examining how multiple language acquisition influences cognitive control, memory, and metacognitive processes across the lifespan. Professor Filippi explores the developmental trajectory of children in multilingual settings and investigates lifelong cognitive benefits associated with multilingualism. His academic achievements include over 60 peer-reviewed publications, numerous keynote lectures, and prestigious awards such as the Ampersand 2023 Best Article Award. He has successfully secured significant research grants, contributing to a deeper understanding of bilingualism's role in cognitive development and education.
r.filippi@ucl.ac.uk
Asli Lidice Gokturk Saglam
Asli Lidice Gokturk Saglam holds a Ph.D. in Teacher Education, with her thesis on language assessment. Her research interests include teacher education, educational technology, and language assessment. She is a member of the teaching staff in the Department of English Language Teaching at MEF University, Turkey. Her scholarly contributions include books, book chapters, and scientific articles on assessment, research-based teacher education, and technology-enhanced learning. Additionally, she has designed online modules for pre-service and in-service teacher education on language assessment and research-based teaching. She has participated in various research projects and is the coordinator of the Teacher Research Literacy (TREL): Comparative Trajectories in the Nordic-Baltic Region project, funded by Nordplus.
saglama@mef.edu.tr
Zrinka Fišer
Zrinka Fišer is an assistant professor at the University of Slavonski Brod in Croatia, where she teaches EFL courses. Her research involves teaching EFL to students with dyslexia, neurolinguistics, ICT in language teaching and learning, as well as motivation and language learning strategies in teaching English for generic and specific purposes.
zfiser@unisb.hr
Mutsumi Iijima
Mutsumi Iijima is the Vice President of Gunma University, Director of Global Initiatives Center, Organization for Higher Education and Student Services. She is one of leading researchers on TEFL for learners with learning or developmental difficulties in Japan and has been actively engaged in teaching English to students with difficulties including deaf or blind students at the university, visiting junior high and high schools to support students with difficulties, and providing guidance to in-service teachers.
iijima@gunma-u.ac.jp
Anna Jaroszewska
Anna Jaroszewska is an associate professor at the University of Warsaw. She studied German, Russian and German as a foreign language (DaF) at the Humboldt University of Berlin, received her doctorate from the University of Warsaw in 2006 and her habilitation from the University of Warsaw in 2014. She is Deputy Director of the Institute of German Studies at the University of Warsaw, the President of the Polish Association of Modern Languages and member of the Neurodiversity in Language Education research group. Her research areas include the processes of language learning and teaching in different age groups, alternative education, interculturalism, psychological and pedagogical aspects in language teaching, teacher education. Her research areas include the processes of language learning and teaching in different age groups, alternative education, interculturalism, psychological and pedagogical aspects in language teaching, teacher education.
a.jaroszewska@uw.edu.pl
Draško Kašćelan
Draško Kašćelan is a Lecturer in Language and Communication Sciences at the University of Essex Division for Speech and Language Therapy. Prior to Essex, he worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Leeds on the Quantifying Bilingual Experience (Q-BEx) project: https://www.q-bex.org. His research expertise and interests include bi/multilingualism, autism, and language disorders. Before joining academia, he qualified and worked as a teacher of English as a foreign language in Montenegro.
d.kascelan@essex.ac.uk
Małgorzata Molska
Małgorzata Molska is an assistant Professor (PhD) at the Institute of French Studies within the Faculty of Modern Languages at the University of Warsaw, specializing in the Department of French Didactics. She teaches both General French and French for Specific Purposes, with a specialization in Medical French. Her research focuses on formative assessment, certification, fostering teacher collaboration, language exclusion, inclusive education, and supporting students with special educational needs. She also develops French exam materials for the UW Language Proficiency Certification Coordinating Council.
m.molska@uw.edu.pl
Zuzanna Mrozicka
Zuzanna Mrozicka is an English teacher and researcher, holds two Master’s degrees from the University of Warsaw. She is currently working on her PhD project exploring bilingual education in Poland, focusing on translanguaging and its influence on students’ language proficiency. Her work spans teaching, inclusive strategies, and conference presentations on language education.
z.mrozicka@student.uw.edu.pl
Joanna Nijakowska
Joanna Nijakowska is a university professor at the Centre for Foreign Language Teacher Training and European Education, University of Warsaw. Her research and publications focus on foreign language teacher training and professional development, language didactics, accessible and inclusive foreign language classroom practices, special educational needs, and specific learning difficulties. She initiated and coordinated international projects devoted to foreign language teacher professional development, including the award-winning (European Language Label, Success Story, ELTons) DysTEFL project and more recently the SCALED - Supporting Content and Language Learning Across Diversity project.
j.nijakowska@uw.edu.pl
Klaudia Ogrodniczek
Klaudia Ogrodniczek is a PhD candidate at the University of Warsaw. Her research focuses on teachers' challenges in supporting multilingualism in Polish schools, aiming to better understand and address the educational barriers faced by refugee students. She also works with NGOs, supporting language development and inclusion for children with specific learning difficulties from migration backgrounds.
k.ogrodniczek@uw.edu.pl
Tymoteusz Płókarz
Tymoteusz Płókarz is a PhD candidate at the University of Warsaw. His research interests involve emotions in foreign language learning and teaching, with a particular emphasis on teachers. Currently, my main focus is pedagogical love and its role in language education.
t.plokarz@student.uw.edu.pl
Patrycja Stasiak
Patrycja Stasiak is an assistant professor in the Department of Italian Studies (Faculty of Modern Languages, University of Warsaw), where she teaches Italian as a Foreign Language, Glottodidactics, and Cooperative Learning. Her research is focused on special educational needs in foreign language acquisition. She is the Polish Ministry of Education advisor on Italian language textbooks. She has taken part in a number of educational projects, either as a trainer, a project member, or the project leader, among others for the 4EU+ European University Alliance.
p.stasiak@uw.edu.pl
Magdalena Walenta
Magdalena Walenta is an assistant professor at the Institute of English Studies, Faculty of Modern Languages, University of Warsaw, where she teaches courses on EFL didactics, bilingualism, and syntax. She is the founder and coordinator of the University of Warsaw research group EMERGE (English Medium Education Research Group for Excellence) emerge.uw.edu.pl. She has published on English-Medium Education (EMI), Content-and-Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), processing instruction, and the intersection of linguistic theories and classroom practice. In addition to a degree in linguistics (with honors) from the University of Warsaw, she holds an M.Arch. in Architecture (with honors) from Warsaw University of Technology. Straddling both fields, she serves as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Warsaw University of Technology, where she supports and coordinates EMI programs.
m.walenta@uw.edu.pl