Neelakshi C. Premawardhena (University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka)

Dr. Neelakshi C. Premawardhena
Senior Lecturer in German
University of Kelaniya
Kelaniya, Sri Lanka  

phone: 94/11-290-3721  
fax:   94/11-291-4494  
email: neelakshi3@yahoo.com
   
Description of work:

Research interests:

Sinhala - Literary and Spoken Sinhala

Reference: reference tracking, reference devices, speaker, addressee and 
third person reference in discourse, role of socio-linguistic factors in 
reference

Gradation: mechanisms used by native speakers to denote gradation, 
degrees, dimensional adjectives, positive, comparative, superlative etc. 

Gender and number: how gender is represented in languages; masculine, 
feminine, neuter, human/non-human, living beings/objects; how number is 
represented in languages; singular, plural, dual, interpretation of 
different numbers, groups, quantities

Language Change & Linguistic Borrowing: English loan-words: influence of 
loan-words on the linguistic structure of a given language

Corpus Linguistics: compiling corpora with electronic databases
   
Contrastive Linguistics

Computational Linguistics
   
Foreign language teaching: identifying areas of difficulty in learning 
German as a foreign language by Sinhala native speakers, E-learning and 
computer based language teaching, web based technology and interactive 
multimedia content in language learning, blended learning and open learning
   
Teaching of English as a Second Language to Sinhala native speakers;
Intercultural communication in language teaching; ICT in Language 
Teaching/Learning
   
Publications:
    
South Asia-related Books & Monographs

  (1) Ch. Premawardhena, N. (2002): Referenz-Indizes im Deutschen und im 
Singhalesischen:  Eine kontrastive Studie, Siegen. Univerlag: (also PhD 
dissertation). 245 pp
   
South Asia-related Research Papers:

  (2) Ch. Premawardhena, N. Integrating Computer aided learning teaching 
English as a second Language: A Sri Lankan experience. International 
Conference on Interactive Computer Aided Learning (ICL 2009), September 
2009, Villach, Austria 

  (3) Ch. Premawardhena, N. (2008). Impact of socio-cultural aspects on 
language in a changing world: An analysis of Modern Sinhala In: Marion 
Grein (Ed.) Dialogue in and between different cultures.IADA, 53-63 ISSN 
1999-5598

  (4) Ch. Premawardhena, N. Integrating computer aided language learning 
to enhance English language skills of Sri Lankan university students, 
International Conference on Interactive Computer Aided Learning (ICL 
2008), September 2008, Villach, Austria.

  (5) Ch. Premawardhena, N. (2007). How Diplomatic Can a Language Be? The 
unwritten rules in a language: an analysis of Spoken Sinhala. In: Marion 
Grein & Edda Weigand (Eds). Dialogue and Culture, John 
Benjamins:Amsterdam, pp. 213-225.

  (6) Ch. Premawardhena, N. (2007) Integrating Literature into foreign 
language teaching: A Sri Lankan perspective. In: Novitas Royal. Ed. Arda 
Arikan. Vol.I.2., pp 92-97. ISSN 1307-4733

  (7) Ch. Premawardhena, N. Web-based teaching as a performance enhancer 
in foreign language teaching in Sri Lanka, International Conference on 
Interactive Computer Aided Learning (ICL 2007), September 2007, Villach, 
Austria

  (8) Ch. Premawardhena, N. (2006), Impact of English Loan Words in Modern 
Sinhala. In:  Amarasinghe, S.; Fonseka, E.A.G.; Ruuskanen, D.D.K.  
(Eds.). Sri Lanka at Crossroads: Continuity and Change. Proceedings of the 
9th International Conference on Sri Lankan Studies. Matara: University of 
Ruhuna. pp 136-146

  (9) De Silva, Chandima H. / Ch. Premawardhena, N. (2006), Some 
Computational Aspects of Natural Language Understanding: A Case Study of 
Sinhala. In: Amarasinghe, S.; Fonseka, E.A.G.; Ruuskanen, D.D.K. (Eds.). 
Sri Lanka at Crossroads: Continuity and Change. Matara: University of 
Ruhuna. pp 146-155

  (10) Ch. Premawardhena, N. Bilingualism in a Sri Lankan context: An 
analysis of Modern Sinhala and Sri Lankan English. 6th International 
Symposium in Bilingualism ISB06, May-June 2007, Hamburg, Germany, pp. 
278-279

  (11) Ch. Premawardhena, N. Socio-cultural aspects reflected in a 
language: an analysis of degrees of respect in Spoken Sinhala, 
International Symposium, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, July 2006, 
p 133

  (12) Ch. Premawardhena, N. Linguistic borrowing in a changing world: a 
contrastive analysis of English loan words in Sinhala and German. 
International Symposium, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, July 2006, 
p 135

  (13) Ch. Premawardhena, N. Enhancing Quality of English Teaching: Some 
suggestions derived from Foreign Language Teaching in Sri Lanka. 
Conference on Enhancing University English Language Teaching (EUE), 
Colombo, June 2006, p 11 (full paper in print)

  (14) Ch. Premawardhena, N. Lerntraditionen im Vergleich: Sri Lanka und 
Deutschland. 14th International Congress on Education and Information 
Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany, February 2006, CD-ROM

  (15) Ch. Premawardhena, N.  (2005), Pronunciation difficulties 
encountered by Sinhala native speakers in learning German as a foreign 
language. In: Journal of Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Vol. 5. No. 
1. pp 48-58

  (16) Ch. Premawardhena, N.; De Silva, C.H., Sutadhara, T, Some 
sociolinguistic aspects of a corpus of Spoken Sinhala from the Western 
Province of Sri Lanka. 10th International Conference on Sri Lanka Studies, 
Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, December 2005.p 103

  (17) Ch. Premawardhena, N. Some aspects of intercultural communication 
in Foreign Language Teaching. 10th International Conference on Sri Lanka 
Studies, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, December 2005 p 185

  (18) Ch. Premawardhena, N.; De Silva, C.H. Integrating ICT in Foreign 
Language Teaching: A Sri Lankan experience. 10th International Conference 
on Sri Lanka Studies, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, December 2005. p 186

  (19) Ch. Premawardhena, N. DaF-Unterricht in Sri Lanka, interkulturelle 
Aspekte und Interferenz der Mutter- bzw. Zweitsprache. 'Symposium für 
Germanistik', New Delhi, October 2005

  (20) Ch. Premawardhena, N.  (2003), Internationalismen im 
Singhalesischen. In: Peter Braun/Burkhard Schaeder/Johannes Volmer (Eds.), 
Internationalismen-Studien zur interlingualen Lexikographie II in der 
"Reihe Germanistische Linguistik" Tübingen: Niemeyer. 169-182
 
  (21) Ch. Premawardhena, N. /Sutadhara, T. / De Silva, Chandima H. Some 
Aspects of Representing a Corpus of Spoken Sinhala in an Electronic 
Database. Annual Research Symposium, University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, Sri 
Lanka, November 2003. p 7

  (22) Rathnayaka, Dilrukshi/ Ch. Premawardhena, N. Reference Devices in 
Japanese. Annual Research Symposium, University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, Sri 
Lanka, November 2003, p 5

  (23) Ch. Premawardhena, N.  (2002), Reference Devices in Sinhala.  In: 
Pronouns, Grammar and Representation, Horst J. Simon, Heike Wiese (Eds.) 
Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 63-84
   
  (24) Ch. Premawardhena, N. Reference Tracking in German and Sinhala. 
Annual Sessions ofGerman Society of Linguistics (DGfS), Marburg, Germany, 
March 2000.