Her research stay is funded by the Fulbright Foundation. Her research, which lies at the intersection of psychology and linguistics, focuses on the patterns of language development in bilingual children. Within the current project, she focuses particularly on children living in the United States with Polish as their heritage language.

Dr. Banasik-Jemielniak aims to capture the critical transition point of language dominance in these children, using the Sentence Repetition Task to analyze elements of morphosyntax. 

During her stay in the USA, Natalia has presented her project at several events at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, working closely with two labs led by Prof. Catherine Snow and Prof. Meredith Rowe and Prof.  Paul Harris. Additionally, she talked about her research at the Bilingualism Matters Research Symposium at the University of South Carolina and visited Quinnipiac University to discuss future collaboration plans. The proximity to Canada enabled Natalia to accept an invitation for a guest lecture at the University of Manitoba, which further strengthened her research collaboration with Prof. Melanie Glenwright. Trying to popularize the research results and contribute to the general understanding  of bilingualism, Natalia engages within the Polish diaspora, e.g. she gave an interview in the "White Eagle" newspaper, sharing insights from her extensive research and experience, and networks on a regular basis with Polish Saturday schools in the USA. 

More info:

Language & Humour lab: https://www.facebook.com/LH.Lab.APS 

Polish Fulbright grantees 2023-24 and their projects: https://fulbright.edu.pl/polish-grantees/ 

Interview with Natalia in “White Eagle” (in Polish): https://bialyorzel24.com/dwujezycznosc-%D8%98-od-obowiazku-po-cieszenie-sie-tym-przywilejem/ 

Photos show Dr Jemielniak in Harvard Library,  Widener Library; 

Harvard Graduate School of Education;

University of South Carolina durign Bilingualism Matters Research Symposium 

with Gedeon Werner at Quinnipiac University