I am a senior lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at Liverpool Hope University. My Bachelor's degree was a 4 year Special Degree in English Literature (Honours) at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka. A small part of the degree was devoted to Linguistics and while I very much enjoyed reading and deconstructing literature through my degree, I was captivated by the linguistics part and wanted to explore more than what was taught. When I came to the UK in the 1990s after gaining some teaching experience as a lecturer at the University of Colombo, I decided to pursue my love of language by doing a PhD at the University of Leeds, Department of English. I speak two languages - Sinhala and English; and, as a bilingual, I have a passion for language and I have dedicated my career to the world of words. Teaching at all three levels of undergraduate study and previously at Master’s level, I have had the privilege of guiding and mentoring students through their academic journey. Currently, I am supervising a doctoral candidate whose research examines the fascinating field of World Englishes, investigating the lexico-grammatical features that have emerged from varieties of English around the globe.  I have also co-supervised a PhD on Language and Identity among Jordanian Turks with Dr. Salman Al-Azami (completed 2023).

My passion lies in understanding how English has been reshaped and transformed through its colonial history, giving rise to new varieties of English. I am captivated by the process of language acquisition, particularly how children learn to navigate the complexities of speech. This passion permeates every aspect of my teaching, from lectures and seminars to tutorials and workshops, where I teach subjects such as phonetics and phonology, language and mind, language and identity, language anthropology, language and law, philosophy of language and of course, World Englishes.

I am interested in supervising postgraduates who want to work in the following areas: World Englishes, Language and Identity and Psycholinguistics.

Teaching Specialisms: 

Psycholinguistics

World Englishes

School/Faculty Roles: 

International Officer

Co-ordinator for Level H

Recent works:

Recent Publications and Projects:

I am a core member of the Centre for Culture and Disability Studies and my most recent work employed a corpus linguistic approach to investigate the language of post world war I letters written by disabled ex-servicemen. This interdisciplinary research allows me to explore how ex-servicemen from different parts of the world employ language to talk about their struggles and emotions during the war. My book publications include Buddhism and Linguistics: theory and philosophy (2014); and Epistolary Constructions of Post World War I letters: the invisibility of minority groups (2021). I am currently collaborating with Dr. David Evans (a research fellow in Education) on a book on Metalanguage and Identity: from narrative to reflective (forthcoming 2025, Bloomsbury). I am currently also collaborating with Dr. Brett Drury (a lecturer in Computer Science) on a project that examines deception in language use.