Biography

Bihimini Abeywickrama holds the position of senior lecturer at the Department of English Language Teaching within the University of Colombo. With over twenty years of teaching experience in post-secondary education, she brings fifteen years of expertise in instructing English for Business Purposes and English for Tourism and Hospitality Management across diverse learner profiles.

Her teaching and research primarily focus on materials development for English for Specific Purposes (ESP), with a particular emphasis on integrating real-life objects to enhance student engagement and learning in English and French instructional settings. She has completed numerous local and international training programs related to corpus linguistics, teaching English for legal purposes, and testing and evaluation. Additionally, she collaborates extensively with academic and professional organizations both domestically and internationally, contributing to various capacities.

With almost two decades of administrative experience at the university level, Bihimini has coordinated English language courses across multiple faculties at the University of Colombo and actively participates in various committees within the Faculty of Arts. Notably, she served as the Acting Head of the Department of English Language Teaching from May to August 2022.

Since 2020, she has served as the Director of the National Centre for University Test of the English Language (UTEL) Testing Services at the University Grants Commission (UGC) in Sri Lanka. In this role, she provides leadership to UTEL, overseeing standardized English language testing for undergraduates within the state university system. Furthermore, she chairs several UTEL-related committees and sub-committees of the UGC.

Bihimini possesses extensive language proficiency, having introduced a French enhancement course to the BA degree program at the University of Colombo in 2021. Currently, she coordinates two French language courses offered by the university and also holds a basic understanding of Japanese and Hindi. Beyond academics, she indulges in literary pursuits, composing poetry and short stories in her leisure time, alongside interests in classical music and photography. Her dedication to community service is evident through her involvement in various outreach projects over the years.