Cathy Benson
Lecturer in English for Academic Purposes. Coordinator of Academic Language and Literacies for Research Students

Contact details
- Email: Cathy.Benson@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
-
Paterson's Land
Holyrood Road - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH8 8AQ
Background
I taught English as a Foreign Language at various institutions in Portugal, Catalonia, and Mexico, before returning to Edinburgh to undertake further study. After two years teaching at the Freie Universität in Berlin, I returned again to Edinburgh, where I have been working for English Language Education (in its various guises) since 1991.
I have held various roles over the years, and am currently the Coordinator of ELE's academic writing courses for post-graduate research students. Most of my teaching work involves Academic Language and Literacies for students across the university, but I have also been involved in teacher education, mentoring colleagues, and post-graduate supervision. I have found working (on a voluntary basis) with the Council for At Risk Academics particularly rewarding.
Qualifications
Royal Society of Arts Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults (1982)
PhD in Applied Linguistics (1999) (Topic: "Ser ou não ser? A study of cross-linguistic influence between two foreign languages.")
Responsibilities & affiliations
Until its very recent closure, I was a member of the Steering Committee of the Cara Syria Programme (EAP Strand)
I am a member of various BALEAP Special Interest Groups: Doctoral Education, Social Justice, Teacher Education, and English Medium Instruction.
Postgraduate teaching
I teach Academic Language and Literacies, principally (but not exclusively) academic writing courses for post-graduate research students. I also deliver courses and workshops for university teachers who teach through the medium of English.
I have supervised a good number of MSc and PhD students for Moray House School of Education, on a wide range of topics, and have also engaged in PhD supervision for the University of Malta. However, I am not taking on new PhD students, as I would not wish to retire before they were able to complete their studies.
I have been working for seven years with a Syrian academic in exile, under the auspices of Cara, on aspects of Academic Language and Literacies. I have also delivered workshops to displaced Syrian academics in Istanbul.
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
No
Papers delivered
Benson, C. (2023) ‘”Reviewing the Literature": the development of a research-informed course’, Presented at University of Edinburgh Learning and Teaching Conference: ‘Investigate, inquire, innovate: exploring research-informed teaching practice’. June 2023.
Benson, C. and Holden, C. (2021) “International post-graduates’ classroom participation: on pre-sessional courses and on Master’s programmes”. Presented at St Andrews University EAP Conference 27 February 2021
Benson, C. and K. Anderson (2019). 'Reviewing the Literature: "A framework into which you can fit your own little contribution" '. Presented at BALEAP Conference: Innovation, Exploration and Transformation 2019. University of Leeds. 12-14 April.
Benson, C., and M. Maclean (2019). 'Evaluating an English for Academic Purposes pre-sessional course: how effectively does it prepare students for their Masters programmes?'. Poster. Presented at The University of Edinburgh Learning and Teaching Conference: Evidencing the value of learning and teaching . 19 June.
Thomas, A. and C. Benson (2018). ‘Do I need a citation here? Understanding motivations around attribution as a window on writer engagement.’ Presented at No Innocent Bystanders: Stance and Engagement in Academic Discourse. The University of St Andrews EAP Conference. 24 February
Benson, C., C. Holden and M. Maclean (2017) ‘Evaluation of a Pre-sessional ESAP course for TESOL and Language Teaching Masters programmes: Perceptions and Performance'. Presented at Evaluating the Effectiveness of EAP. BALEAP Professional Issues Meeting. ELE, University of Edinburgh.18 March.
Benson, C. (2016) ‘Lecturing in English in Japan’. Poster presented at EMI in Higher Education: the challenges and the opportunities. BALEAP Professional Issues Meeting, University of Southampton. June 2016.
Benson, C. and K. Anderson (2016) ‘A dissertation writing course for School of Education students at the University of Edinburgh'. Presented at In-sessional EAP. BALEAP Professional Issues Meeting, LSE. March 2016
Benson, Cathy (2015) "The influence of a second language on the acquisition of a third language". Public lecture under the auspices of the Department of Languages and Humanities in Education, the University of Malta.
Benson, C. and D. Caulton (2015) “Grammar for Academic Writing: an in‐sessional EAP course”. BALEAP Professional Issues Meeting, St Andrews. June 2015.
Benson, C. and A. Young (2013) ‘“We don’t really know the person at the end of the e-mail address”: Teachers, students and on-line feedback’. BALEAP Professional Issues Meeting, Oxford Brookes University. November 2013.
Benson C., J. Gollin and H. Trappes-Lomax (2005) ‘Reporting strategies in academic writing: from corpus to materials’. Joint BALEAP/SATEFL Conference, Edinburgh 2005.
Anderson K., C. Benson and T. Lynch (2004) ‘Feedback on writing: Attitudes and uptake’. BALEAP Conference, Glasgow. 2004.