Introducing the FUS Faculty: Iona Dawson

Adjunct Lecturer, Academic Literacies Program (ALP)

M.A. Hons English Language and Literature, Glasgow University, Scotland
CTEFLA Newnham Language Center, Cambridge, UK
MLlitt English Language Teaching, University of Dundee, Scotland

Office: Kaletsch Campus, Office 7
Phone: +41 91 985 22 91
Email: idawson@fus.edu

Iona Dawson worked in various positions before coming into teaching in 1996, including commercial banking and market research. Previous teaching experience includes teaching EFL to private and business students in Rome and Milan, particularly at the IULM, a prestigious private language university. She started teaching at Franklin in 2000. In 2001 she was the author of the British Institute exams for Italy and she has also worked as translator, specializing in website and advertising copy. In addition, she has taught various courses at USI in Lugano. In 2009 she gained her MLlitt in ELT with First Class honors. Her research focus for her disseration was the role of native and non-native speaking teachers in English Language Teaching. She has also been an EFL teacher at SUPSI in Lugano since 2006.

2024-2025 Courses

WTG 130	Academic Writing: Entering the Conversation	FALL 2024
This course provides students with a bridge to university-level academic writing. It is designed to help students further develop their critical writing skills. It looks at best practices for research and use of information, including evaluation and effective incorporation of outside sources through paraphrase, summary and correct citation formats, and addresses the development of structure and expression in academic writing and techniques for effectively sharing information in both written and oral forms. Upon successful completion of WTG 130 (i.e. with a minimum final grade of C) the student must take WTG 150 in the following semester.
WTG 150	Academic Writing: Crossing Borders	SPRING 2025
Designed as a discussion/workshop seminar, this writing course develops students’ awareness of scholarly discourse and their participation in it: what makes academic discourse different from other kinds of writing, how different disciplines approach analysis and evidence, and what counts as effective communication within scholarly communities. Through the study of borders -- what they are, how they shape culture, politics and society, and why they change -- the course helps students develop academic communication strategies that are applicable across the curriculum at Franklin. The main focus of the course is to help students develop strategies for joining the academic conversation, covering skills such as close reading and responding to texts; generating, supporting and sharing ideas in both oral and written form; and scholarly researching. Drawing from a wide selection of texts and media about cross-border and cross cultural practices, which has recently garnered much attention among scholars and speaks to the Franklin mission, students will explore various academic responses to the phenomenon of border crossing, concluding with a research-based final project and defense. Succesful completion of WTG 150 requires a minimum final grade of C. (This writing-intensive course counts towards the Academic Writing core requirement.)

Recent Conference Presentations:

Dawson I. , Dawson C & Mac Kenzie T. 2020 "Is Less More? Detail in essay-writing prompts." Presented at IATEFL. Manchester, UK

Dawson C. , Dawson I. & Mac Kenzie T. 2018. "Learner Training: The road to collective autonomy?" Presented at English for Specific Purposes: A Multidimensional Challenge. Vienna, Austria.

Dawson I. , Mac Kenzie T. & Dawson C. , 2017 . "Life in the EAP Lane: Student Perceptions of the Effectiveness of EAP." Presented at BALEAP PIM. Edinburgh, UK.