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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.”
A Play to inform on how to build houses using earth bricks
2006-03-17
About 3200 learners and members of the community attended a play at schools in Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu. The play, performed to teach communities how to build houses using earth bricks, was developed by the University of the Free State's (UFS) Departments of Architecture and Urban and Regional Planning. These department have been researching the perception of the use of earth bricks as building material for the past two years. The project is done in cooperation with the Technical University of Eindhoven and funded by the South African - Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development (SANPAD). The play was also performed at schools in the Northern Cape.
The play, written by Mr David Brink from Stage Alive, was performed in Sesotho and Tswana by two students - Galie Malebo and Godfrey Manenye - from the UFS. Here the play is performed at the Dibeng-Sa Tsebo School.