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22 September 2021
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Story Michelle Nöthling
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Photo Supplied
Annemarie Le Roux.
“I love working with children.” This is one of the first things Annemarie le Roux mentions when asked to describe herself. This love for children propelled Annemarie into the field of education and she graduated in 2006 with a BEd in Foundation Phase at the UFS. Annemarie immediately immersed herself in the Deaf community, enriching the lives of children at the Thiboloha School for the Deaf in Qwaqwa and the De la Bat School for the Deaf in Worcester.
The academic world enticed Annemarie back to the University of the Free State (UFS) and she was appointed as a junior lecturer in the Department of South African Sign Language (SASL) and Deaf Studies in 2013. Going from strength to strength, Annemarie completed her master’s degree in SASL in 2019, and published an
article earlier this year that she co-wrote with Marga Stander. In this article, they found that SASL “has become an increasingly popular language that hearing university students want to learn as a second language” and subsequently explored different teaching methods used for this emerging group of interested students.
Although now firmly established in academia, Annemarie is still committed to the practical application of SASL. “I am closely involved in student and community engagement through the
SIGNALS Sign Language student association that helps empower the Deaf community and South African Sign Language.” She also interprets for the Deaf community whenever she gets an opportunity, as well as for Deaf students in class and meetings.
On the importance of Sign Language and the recognition of the Deaf community in South Africa, Annemarie believes it will open greater opportunities for development. “More people will be able to learn SASL, and it might even become a subject in school for hearing children.”
University part of international network for young researchers
2012-10-22
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Photo: Supplied
22 October 2012
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Susanne Gottuck from Bielefeld University in Germany visited the UFS on 4 October 2012 to welcome the university to the prestigious EduWel Initial Training Network. Generously funded by the EU Commission for four years (2010-2014), the programme focuses on the development of 15 early-stage researchers, supported by senior researchers in nine countries. The early-stage researchers work on the common theme of 'education as welfare'. Following the arrival of Professor Melanie Walker at the UFS, we are now an associate partner of this innovative research capacity-building project. Slides from the presentation about EDUWEL can be obtained from Lucretia Smith (smithl3@ufs.ac.za). While at the university, Susanne also presented a seminar on her research on a Pedagogy of Migration and the concept of 'critical culturalization'.