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Contact:
Contact:
Department of English Language Teaching
University of Kelaniya
Sri Lanka
Email: mahishi@kln.ac.lk
Educational Qualifications:
Educational Qualifications:
PhD, University College London, UK
Master of Arts Degree in Teaching English as a Second Language, Northern Arizona University, USA - 2007
Master of Arts Degree in Linguistics, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka - 2005
Bachelor of Arts (English Literature Honours), University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka - 2000
Awards and Fellowships:
Awards and Fellowships:
Fulbright Junior Fellow (J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship) – 2005
Alpha Delta Kappa International Teacher Education Scholarship – 2005
Delta Kappa Gamma International World Fellowship – 2005 & 2006
Arizona ADK 2007 Spring Scholarship to an outstanding future teacher
Research Presentations and Publications:
Research Presentations and Publications:
An Overview of Pragmatic Markers: Definitions and Characteristics. The Journal of Desk Research Review and Analysis, Vol. 3, Issue 1, 2025, 41-51, University of Kelaniya.
A gender-based analysis of pragmatic markers in Sri Lankan English, short paper presentation at ICAME 43 (Conference on Corpus Linguistics: a new normal?), Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, July 2022
A corpus-based study of pragmatic markers in the spoken discourse of women in Sri Lankan English, short paper presentation at ICAME 42 (Conference on Crossing Boundaries through Corpora), Germany, August 2021
/t/ before /ʈ/ or /ʈ/ before /t/: Emerging Trends from a Preliminary Study of Consonant Acquisition in Typically developing Sinhala-speaking Children aged 3 to 6 years. Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development, 32(3), pp.9-28. Hettiarachchi, S., Ranaweera, M. and Rajapaksha, R.M.W., October 2021.
The effectiveness of using multi-sensory children’s stories on vocabulary development in young deaf and hard-of-hearing children, Deafness and Education International, August, 2020 (with, Hettiarachchi, S. & Dissanayake, L.)
The effectiveness of using the Colourful Semantics approach to support language development with children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, Deafness and Education International, January 2019 https://doi.org/10.1080/14643154.2019.1573473 (with Hettiarachchi, S.)
Colour Me …Orange? Incorporating Aspects of the Colourful Semantics Approach into a TESOL Programme at Preschool, Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 27, 143-176 (With Hettiarachchi, S., Walisundara, D.C.) 2018
‘Nothing can we call our own but death’: A diachronic analysis of Sri Lankan English morphological features and move structures of obituary notices in newspapers, Research full paper presentation at ICAME 39 (Conference on Corpus Linguistics and Changing Society), Finland, May 2018
Including all? Perceptions of mainstream teachers on inclusive education in the Western Province of Sri Lanka, International Journal of Special Education, April 2018 (with Hettiarachchi, S., Das, A.K., Walisundara, D., Daskon- Attanayake, L.)
Across storytelling traditions- The effectiveness of multisensory traditional storytelling on vocabulary development in English in children with disabilities, The 9th Sri Lanka English Teachers’ Association (SLELTA) International Conference, February 2017 (with Hettiarachchi, S. and Walisundara, D.)
A Corpus Based Study of High Frequency Academic Vocabulary in Second Language Acquisition Research Articles, International Journal of Arts and Sciences’ (IJAS) International Conference for Education, France, April 2016
Constructing ‘disabilities’ and ‘inclusion’: An explanatory models of disability and inclusive education among teachers in Sri Lanka, International Conference on the Humanities, May 2015 (with Hettiarachchi, S. and Walisundera, D.)
Developing and Validating a Sinhala Phonology Assessment for Children Aged between 3-6 Years, Speech and Language Therapy, Audiology and Disability Conference, December 2014 (with Hettiarachchi, S.)
A Comparative Study of the Phonemic and Phonological Skills of Sinhala-speaking and Sri Lankan Tamil-speaking 3 to 5 year old Children with Typical and Atypical Speech Patterns – Presentation at Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, 7th Annual Research Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences, March 2014 (with Hettiarachchi, S. and Rassool, R.)
Snap shots of phonological disorder in Sinhala and Sri Lankan Tamil- speaking children – Presentation at the National Conference of General Linguistics, December 2013 (with Hettiarachchi, S., Rajapakse, R.M. W., Rassool, R., Nonis, D., Saleem, S., Wajid A., Wanniarachchi, M. )
Documenting dialect variation in Sri Lankan sign language – Presentation at the National Conference of General Linguistics, December 2013 (with Hettiarachchi, S.)
Accessing tertiary education: expectations and realities for students experiencing disabilities – Journal of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Vol. 3, 2014 and Presentation at the Annual Research Symposium/Faculty of Graduate Studies/ University of Kelaniya – November 2013 (With Hettiarachchi, S. & Attanayake L. D., Walisundera, D.)
The use of the whole class Colourful Semantics approach with children experiencing hearing loss in Sri Lanka, Presentation at 3rd International Conference on Sign Linguistics and Deaf Education in Asia – February 2013 (With Hettiarachchi, S., Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya)
Explicit Instructional Techniques Used in Teaching Vocabulary through Reading- Presentation and publication - The Annual Research Symposium/Faculty of Graduate Studies/ University of Kelaniya – November 2012
A study on the effectiveness of using traditional stories within a multi-sensory approach as part of a whole-class vocabulary enrichment programme with children with hearing loss in Sri Lanka, Presentation at 11th Asia Pacific Congress on Deafness, Singapore – July 2012 (With S. Hettiarachchi, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya)
‘Story Boxes’: A pilot study on the efficacy of using traditional stories within a multi-sensory approach as part of a whole-class vocabulary enrichment programme with children with learning difficulties in Sri Lanka, CICE 2012 Proceedings, p. 390- 394 – Presentation and paper submission at Canada International Conference on Education – June 2012 (With S. Hettiarachchi, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya)
‘Universal’ and ‘Language-specific’ Features of Sinhala and Sri Lankan Tamil reflected in the Trajectory of Phonetic and Phonology Development in Children- Presentation at the 5th Annual Research Conference, Royal Asiatic Society – March 2012 (With S. Hettiarachchi, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya)
‘t’ before ‘th’ or ‘th’ before ‘t’: assessing the trajectory of Sinhala speech sound and phonology development - Presentation at the Annual Research Symposium/Faculty of Graduate Studies/ University of Kelaniya – November 2011 (With S. Hettiarachchi, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya)
Dress Code for the University: Clothes Maketh the Man- Presentation at the National Conference on the Humanities, August 2009 (Gunesekera, M., Ranaweera, M., Weerasinghe, M., Edirisinghe, N.)
When to Teach What: A Study of Natural Order of L2 Morpheme Acquisition, (Journal Article) Golden Jubilee Commemorative Volume, University of Kelaniya, 2009
Proposed Checklist for Regularizing English Tuition in Sri Lanka, SLELTA Quarterly - 2009
Register Variation in Sri Lankan English- Presentation at the Post Graduate Institute of English, The Open University, Research Forum, December 2007
When to Teach What: A Study of Natural Order of L2 Morpheme Acquisition –Presentation at the Annual Symposium of Graduate Research (presentation only) – December 2007
Reception of the A/L General English Text Book in Selected Schools in Gampaha District- Presentation at the Annual Symposium of Graduate Research -2004 (With Rassool, R.)
Positions held:
Positions held:
- Director, Inclusivity Centre, University of Kelaniya, 2025 (to date)
Head, Department of English Language Teaching, 2017
Head, English Language Teaching Unit, 2014-2017
Co-ordinator, Research Council of the Faculty of Humanities Jan- Oct 2019
Member of the Steering Committee, Centre for Gender Studies, University of Kelaniya
Member of the Review Panel, Original Novel, State Literary Awards, Department of Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious & Cultural Affairs, 2025
University Web Editor/English, July 2014 – July 2016
Visiting Lecturer, Staff Development Centre, University of Kelaniya, 2018 & 2014
Member, Editorial Board, Journal of the Community Physicians of Sri Lanka, Feb 2017- Apr 2019
Member of the Quality Assurance Committee of the Faculty of Humanities, June 2015- June 2018
Coordinator (University Development Grant- English Activity), University of Kelaniya, 2014
Member of the panel of judges- Godage National Literary Awards, 2014
Member of the Editorial Board, Kalyani Journal of the University of Kelaniya -2013/2014
Member, Administrative Committee of the Pre-orientation Program/English component, Ministry of Higher Education, 2011
Co-ordinator (Listening), Textbook for Teaching English for University Entrants, HETC Project, Ministry of Higher Education, Apr- Aug 2011
Member of the Interview Panel, Recruitment of English Medium Graduate Teachers, Ministry of Education, 2010
Convener of the High Level Committee to Introduce Standards for Sri Lankan English and Prepare a Suitable Teacher’s Guide for Standard Sri Lankan English, Ministry of Education, 2010
Academic Adviser, University of Kelaniya, 2009
Co- Editor, Journal of the Faculty of the Humanities -2008/2009 (Volume 9, 10, 11)
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