Academic biography

Vincent de Rooij holds an MA in Anthropology and a PhD in Linguistics (both at the University of Amsterdam). His PhD dissertation (1996) Cohesion through contrast: Discourse structure in Shaba Swahili/French conversations , based on  fieldwork carried out in Lubumbashi (DR Congo, ex-Zaïre) in 1991 and 1992, shows how codeswitching is involved in creating cohesion in discourse.
From 1996 to 1999, de Rooij carried out a WOTRO post-doc research project titled Linguistic and cultural creolization on the Zairean Copperbelt . He is an assistant-professor at the Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology and a member of the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) .
In his teaching and research, his primary interest is on the construction of identities through language and on language ideologies.

• More information on the index page of de Rooij's personal webfolder

Research interests

My current research interests include: youth vernaculars in The Netherlands, processes of linguistic and cultural creolization, social and cultural dimensions of language contact, the impact of new media on behavior and cognition, the ethnography of online communities, language-mediated popular culture in Congo (ex-Zaire), and missionary ethnography in the Belgian Congo.

Language and Popular Culture in Africa

Together with Johannes Fabian, I am the editor of the Language and Popular Culture in Africa (LPCA) web site, the host of LPCA Text archives, Archives of Popular Swahili, and the Journal of Language and Popular Culture in Africa.

• Language and Popular Culture in Africa

Selected publications

• (2012) (with Leonie Cornips & Irene Stengs). Carnavalesk taalgebruik en de constructie van lokale identiteiten: Een pleidooi voor taalcultuur als onderzoeksveld. Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics 1(1): 15-40.
• (2010). Language analysis for the determination of origin (LADO): A look into the problems presented by East and Central African cases. In: Karin Zwaan, Pieter Muysken and Maaike Verrips (eds.), Language and origin: The role of language in European asylum procedures. A linguistic and legal survey . Nijmegen: Wolf Legal Publishers. 133-144.
• (2009). (with Francio Guadeloupe). Antropologie na een trekje van een Habanero: Reflecties op de verhouding tussen de canon en onze creoliserende wereld. In: Thijl Sunier (red.), Antropologie in een zee van verhalen . Amsterdam: Aksant. 59-88.
• (2008b). (with Francio Guadeloupe). O sexo e a desconstrução do natural: Uma perspectiva a partir de uma ilha no Caribe. Afro-Ásia 37:97-118.
• (2008a). (with Johannes Fabian). Ethnography. In: Tony Bennett and and John Frow (eds.), The Sage handbook of cultural analysis . London: Sage. 613-631.
  
• (2007c). Katanga Swahili. In: Yaron Matras and Jeanette Sakel (eds.), Grammatical borrowing in cross-linguistic perspective . Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 123-136.
  
• (2007b). Multiculturaliteit en meertaligheid: Een kritische beschouwing van het Dutch-only vertoog. In: Francio Guadeloupe en Vincent de Rooij (red.), Zo zijn onze manieren: Visies op multiculturaliteit in Nederland. Amsterdam: Rozenberg Publishers. 67-76.
  
• (2007a). (met Francio Guadeloupe). Inleiding. In: Francio Guadeloupe en Vincent de Rooij (red.), Zo zijn onze manieren: Visies op multiculturaliteit in Nederland. Amsterdam: Rozenberg Publishers. 9-20.
  
• (2006). (met Leonie Cornips & Birgit Reizevoort). Straattaal: Processen van naamgeving en stereotypering [Street language: Processes of naming and stereotyping]. In: Guust Meijers e.a. (red.), Thema's en trends in de sociolinguïstiek 5 = Toegepaste Taalwetenschap in Artikelen ( TTWiA ) 76(jaargang 2006, deel 2):123-136.
• (2005). (with Mattijs vandePort).Johannes Fabian's time in the Netherlands. Etnofoor 18(2):125-138.
• (2003). (met Leonie Cornips). "Kijk, Levi's is een goeie merk: maar toch hadden ze 'm gedist van je schoenen doen 'm niet": Jongerentaal heeft de toekomst. In: Jan Stroop (red.), Waar gaat het Nederlands naartoe? Panorama van een taal .  Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker. 131-142.Preprint online at: http://www.meertens.nl/meertensnet/file/leoniec/20050208/cornips_derooijdefstroop.pdf
• (2002b). Displays and displacements: Some thoughts on the uses of interactive screens and how they affect mental maps of space and self. Etnofoor 15(1/2):70-78.
• (2002a). Comprendere mantenendo una distanza: L'etnografia missionaria in Congo Belga (1890-1960). In: Missioni: Percorsi tra antropologia e storia , a cura di Claudia Mattalucci-Yılmaz = Etnosistemi 9:99-107.
• (2000). French discourse markers in Shaba Swahili conversations. International Journal of Bilingualism 4(4):447-467 (special issue Discourse markers in bilingual conversation , edited by Yael Maschler). Online at http://dare.uva.nl/en/record/87922

• Publications in the Digital Academic Repository, University of Amsterdam

• Complete list of publications

Teaching

Courses developed and taught by de Rooij include:

• Wetenschapsfilosofie & Argumentatieleer [Philosophy of Science and Argumentation Theory] lecture series, Autumn Semester 2011-2012, 2012-2013.
• (with Francio Guadeloupe) Migratie & Jeugdcultuur [Migration & Youth Culture], Autumn Semester 2011-2012
• Gender, Class, and Language, Autumn Semester 2010-2011.
• Narrating the Self, Autumn Semester 2006-2007, 2007-2008, Spring Semester 2008-2009.
• Taal en Cultuur (Language and Culture), Spring Trimester 2005-2006 (with Gosewijn van Beek), 2006-2007 (with Niko Besnier), 2007-2008, 2008-2009.
• (with Yolanda van Ede and Thijl Sunier) Stijl, subcultuur en groepsvorming, Spring Semester 2007-2008.
• Language Practices and Ideologies in Youth Subcultures, Autumn Semester 2005-2006.
• Taal, Cultuur en Media (Language, Culture, and Media), Spring Trimester 2001-2002 (with Michael Meeuwis); 2002-2003 (with Marloes Janson), 2003-2004, 2004-2005 (with Gosewijn van Beek)
• Dutch Only? Language Practices and Ideologies in the Netherlands, Autumn Semester 2004-2005.
• Topics in Linguistic Anthropology, Spring Trimester 2001-2002, 2002-2003, Spring Semester 2003-2004.
• Taal & Communicatie [Language & Communication] lecture series, 1999-2000, 2000-2001.
• Algemene Taalwetenschap [General Linguistics] lecture series, 1998-1999 
• Popular Literacy/ies, 1997-1998.

• More information and links to syllabi

• De Taalstudio Amsterdam
  Taalanalyses in asielprocedures
• STEK Amsterdam
  Bestuurslid