Wona Lee

Wona Lee is a dedicated Lecturer and Program Coordinator of Korean Language at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). She earned her Ph.D. from UCSB’s Gevirtz Graduate School of Education in 2018, with a focus on bilingual education dynamics in Korean/English immersion classrooms. Her academic journey includes a Master of Arts in TESOL/Applied Linguistics from San Diego State University (2010) and an Advanced Certificate in TESL/TEFL.

Her research interests bridge Korean-English bilingualism, translanguaging pedagogy, and sociocultural linguistics. She teaches Korean language courses at UCSB, emphasizing cultural literacy alongside linguistic proficiency. Prior to UCSB, she taught at Palomar College, San Diego State University, and La Sierra University, and participated in the Sogang Korean Immersion Program in Seoul.

Her work explores translanguaging practices in multilingual communities, raciolinguistic dynamics in education, and language’s role in STEM instruction within bilingual contexts. While no formal awards are listed, her contributions to Korean language education and bilingual pedagogy are notable.