Simon Claassen obtained a Research Master's degree in Language and Communication from Radboud University Nijmegen in 2020 and a Master's degree in Linguistics (specialization) from Leiden University in 2021, specializing in descriptive linguistics and linguistic typology. For his theses, he did linguistic fieldwork and descriptive linguistic research on various indigenous Amazonian languages, including Upper Amazonian Quechua, Munichi, Shiwilu and Ecuadorian Siona. In 2023, he started his PhD project An integrative account of codeswitching: reconciling structural, sociolinguistic and cognitive factors at Ghent University under the supervision of prof. dr. Renata Enghels and prof. dr. Rob Hartsuiker. He is investigating English-Spanish codeswitching in the United States (Miami and El Paso) and English-Spanish-Kriol codeswitching in Belize, making use of corpora and descriptive linguistic, sociolinguistic and experimental research methods and focusing on the analytic and synthetic strategies used to form intensifying constructions.
