Dr Franko Leoni
Senior Lecturer, School of Arts
Qualifications
BA (Hons), PhD (New England)
Contact
| Email: | fleoni@une.edu.au |
| Room: | E11 G5 |
I was born in Rome. After completing Primary, Middle and High School in Rome, I was awarded an Italian government scholarship to further my tertiary studies abroad. I studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts for three years, after which I worked as a journalist for Swiss, Italian and American newspapers and press agencies before coming to Australia in 1975.
In Australia I obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours and was awarded a PhD in 1987 on the linguistic changes occurring to the language of Italian migrants in Australia.
I have been employed by the University of New England since 1981 and taught Italian language, Italian and Italo-Australian literature and a course of sociolinguistic nature, to student at all levels; I have also been, during the years, the coordinator of several courses within the Italian discipline, developing totally new Units while contributing to older, already established ones.
Research interests
I have researched and published extensively, particularly in the area concerning the language of Italian migrants in multicultural Australia. I have published an Italian-English dictionary for school children used extensively in primary/high schools in Australia and a reader for beginners and advanced students of Italian used at tertiary level.