MDNMU Mahawattha is a Senior Lecturer attached to the Department of Marketing Management, Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (SUSL). Before she joined the university system, she worked as an assistant teacher of English in two state schools and as a temporary lecturer at Ruwanpura National College of Education (RNCOE), Sri Lanka. She is an English literacy practitioner with an interest in how to develop the academic literacy of undergraduates in English Medium Degree Programmes. Further, she is the activity coordinator of English language development programmes in FMS, SUSL, which is funded by the World Bank and implemented by the Ministry of Higher Education of Sri Lanka.

• Academic Literacy in English Medium Degree Programmes
• Interdisciplinary Collaboration of Language Lecturers and Subject Lecturers  
• Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)
• Content-Based Instructions (CBI)
• Testing and Evaluation
• Bilingual Education
• American Literature

• Writing a research paper on the topic “Discussion in reading comprehension test constructs in the GCE (Advanced Level) examination in Sri Lanka,” a collaborative research with a group of researchers from the Department of Examination, Sri Lanka

Abstracts

• Mahawattha, N., & Tomanek A. (2023, April 13-14). Sustaining Services and Reducing Harassment in a Rural Sri Lankan University [Abstract presentation]. In the database Online Writing Centres Virtual Conference,2023,  https://www.onlinewritingcenters.org/scholarship/tomanek-mahawattha-2023/

• Mahawattha, N., & Rassool R.  (2021, December 3-5). Plenary 1-English in the Asian language repertoire. Empowering the English Language Teaching (ELT) Professional to Provide Support to Develop Academic Literacy in English Medium Degree Programmes (EMDPs). [Abstract presentation]. In Program Book 19^th Asia Pacific TEFL Conference, 2021, GLA University, Mathura and Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, India, p. 135. GLA University, Mathura and Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, India

• Rassool, R., & Mahawattha, N. (2021, June 3-4). Panel B – Moving from Opacity to Transparency. “Please improve students’ English”: Power interplay between content lecturers and language lecturers in English Medium Degree Programmes (EMDPs) in Sri Lankan Higher Education (SLHE). [Abstract presentation]. In Abstract Booklet. 18^th Annual Kaleidoscope Conference 2021, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, p. 30.  Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1?ui=2&ik=4bf10da4bc&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-f:1700914690295924908&th=179adce6245508ac&view=att&disp=inline

• Mahawattha, N., & Rassool. R. (2021, March 18-19). Language Teaching and Learning. Investigating understanding of academic literacy in English medium degree programmes among stakeholders in Sri Lankan higher education. [Extended abstract presentation]. In S. S. Pereira (Eds.). The seventh International Research Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences, IRCHSS-2021. The 7^th International Research Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences. Collaborate and Discover: Break the Barriers. Sri Lanka. p. 103.  IRCHSS-2021, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.

https://hq.ssrn.com/conference=7th-IRCHSS-2021

• Mahawattha, M.D.N.M.U. (2020, December 16). Session 3 – Social Sciences and Languages, Management Studies. Mainstreaming Academic Literacy in English Medium Degree Programmes: Locating the Pedagogical Practices in Sri Lankan Universities. [Abstract presentation]. In M.L.M. C. Dissanayake (Eds.). 10^th Annual Research Session - 2020, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. 10^th Annual Research Session - 2020, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, p. 22. Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. https://www.sab.ac.lk/crkd/ars-2020#tab-by3do-3

• Mahawattha, M.D.N.M.U. (2020, January 20-21). Session 2 – Education. Academic Literacy-oriented Structural Arrangements in English Medium Degree Programmes in Sri Lanka. [Abstract presentation]. In 3^rd International Research Symposium on Social Sciences and Humanities (IRSSSH)-2020 Advances in Social Sciences and Humanities: Challenges and Opportunities. 3^rd International Research Symposium on Social Sciences and Humanities (IRSSSH)-2020, Advances in Social Sciences and Humanities, National Centre for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (NCAS), NCAS, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka. p.36. National Centre for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (NCAS)

            https://www.ncas.ac.lk/wpcontent/uploads/2014/10/IRSSSH2020_Sympo  sium_Proceeding.pdf

• Mahawattha, M.D.N.M.U. (2019, November 8-9). Session 2 – Education and other studies. A multi-level descriptive study on undergraduates’ academic literacy in English Medium Degree Programmes. [Abstract presentation]. In Book of Abstracts. 2^nd South Asia Conference on Multidisciplinary Research, 2019. The International Research & Development Institution (TIRDI) Colombo, Sri Lanka, p.29. The International Research & Development Institution (TIRDI), Sri Lanka

• Mahawattha, N. (2017, September 28-29). Session II – Innovations in Language Teaching. Theoretical and empirical literature on the transition from the L1 medium to the English medium. [Abstract Presentation]. In Proceedings. International Research Symposium on English Language Studies 2017: English as a Second Language: Knowledge, Learning and Production. Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, p.27. Department of English Language Teaching, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

• Mahawattha, M.D.N.M.U. (2016, October 6-7). Session – English Language Teaching. The effect of a bilingual model thematically related to nature and tourism on the group of undergraduates in the transition from the L1 medium to the English medium. [Abstract Presentation]. In Abstracts. The Second International Conference on the Humanities-New Directions in the Humanities: Our engagement with the Environment. Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, p.92. Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

• Mahawattha, N. (2013, June 13-14). Section 3 – Cultures. An exploration of identity in terms of ethnicity in the novel “The house on Mango Street”. [Abstract Presentation]. In Abstracts. The Asian Conference on Arts and Culture 2013, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand, p.174. Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand

• Mahawattha, N. (2010, August 26-28). Session – Session- Social Sciences & Humanities. Bilingual education in Sri Lankan schools – An analysis of difficulties in speaking experienced by students in selected schools in Sri Lanka. [Abstract Presentation]. In Abstracts. 3^rd International Symposium: New horizons in humanities sciences towards sustainable development. Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka, p.249. Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka

• Full Papers

• Mahawattha, N., & Rassool. R. (2021). Language Teaching and Learning. Investigating understanding of academic literacy in English medium degree programmes among stakeholders in Sri Lankan higher education. [Paper publication]. In S. S. Pereira (Eds.). The Seventh International Research Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences, IRCHSS-2021. The 7^th International Research Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences. Collaborate and Discover: Break the Barriers. Sri Lanka.  IRCHSS-2021, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. http://ssrn.com/abstract=3809868

• Mahawattha, N. https://ssrn.com/author=4634802,

   

• Mahawattha, M.D.N.M.U. (2019). The Medium of Instruction in Sri Lankan Universities: A Situation Analysis. In S. Kiramba (Eds.), Vidurusanda, Second Volume (pp. 293-303). Ruwanpura National College of Education, Kahawattha, Sri Lanka.

•  

• Mahawattha, M.D.N.M.U. (2016). Researching on Bilingual Education: A Theoretical and Empirical Review. In S. Kiramba (Eds.), Vidurusanda, First Volume (pp. 88-93). Ruwanpura National College of Education, Kahawattha, Sri Lanka.

•  

• Mahawattha, M.D.N.M.U., & Premaratne, A. (2015). Relationship between Development of Second Language Proficiency and the Content-Based Instructions/Teaching Materials. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, ISSN:1944-6934:08(06), 375-412
•  
• Mahawattha, N. (2013). An Exploration of Identity in Terms of Ethnicity in the Novel “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros. In S. Mahavarakorn (Eds.), The Asian Conference on Arts and Culture 2013, (pp. 259-266). The Asian Conference on Arts and Culture 2013, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand.
•  
• Mahawattha, M.D.N.M.U. (2012). Bilingual Education in Sri Lankan Schools: An Analysis of Difficulties in Speaking English Experienced by    Students in Selected Schools in Sri Lanka. Journal of Education and Vocational Research 3(4), 221-259

Book chapters

• Mahawattha N, Rassool, R. & Coorey, R. V. (2023). The practice of Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Developing Academia Literacies in an English Medium Degree Prgramme in Sri Lankan Higher Education. In L. Buckingham, J. Dong & F. K. Jiang [Eds.], Interdisciplinary Practices in Academia: Writing, Teaching and Assessment (pp. 110-128). Routledge.

Forthcoming: Book chapter

• Already submitted the final manuscript for a book chapter on “Challenges of English Medium Instruction in General Certificate of Education (Advanced Level) Classrooms in State Schools of Sri Lanka” to be published in a volume edited on “Re-envisioning English-medium Instruction in K-12 Schools: Policy, Research, and Practice with Springer (2023)

Forthcoming: Journal article

• Already submitted the final manuscript for Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching (SSLLT)  

https://pressto.amu.edu.pl/index.php/ssllt/article/view/38541/32804

https://pressto.amu.edu.pl/index.php/ssllt/article/view/38274/32803

Mahawattha, N., & Rassool. R. (2023). “A smooth transition or a giant leap?” The challenges posed by the transition from secondary education to higher education in relation to EMI in Sri Lanka. [Paper publication]. In Ernesto Macaro & Heath Rose (Eds.). Special issue: English medium instruction: Areas of research needing urgent attention, Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching (SSLLT)