Jeeyoung Ha

Jeeyoung Ha serves as Director of the Korean Language Program and Assistant Head in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. She has led the Korean program since 2004 and currently presides as president of the Midwest Teachers of Korean (MATK). Her administrative roles include previous service as Secretary for the ACTFL Korean Special Interest Group and Executive Board Member of the American Association of Teachers of Korean (2015-2018).

Her research focuses on language pedagogy, curriculum development, technology-enhanced language instruction, teacher training, and language assessment. She has developed innovative educational resources including the 8-week online Elementary Korean course, semi-adoptive Korean proficiency and placement online test, and the "Let's Talk in Korean" online community for language practice. Her work particularly addresses the needs of heritage Korean learners through specialized curriculum design.

Her publications demonstrate a consistent focus on standards-based curriculum development and teacher training methodologies. The research trajectory shows increasing emphasis on technology integration in language instruction and specialized approaches for heritage language learners, culminating in the development of the Integrated Korean: Accelerated series for heritage learners.

Her notable awards include the 2022 Illinois State Treasurer Award for Outstanding Commitment in Education in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and the LAS Academic Professional Award. She has received multiple IPRH Reading Group Awards for her collaborative work in language pedagogy.

Dr. Ha has secured substantial grant funding including multiple CEAPS Faculty Conference Travel Grants (2019-2024), Title VI Grants for online Korean course and test development (2010-2012, 2020-2022), and a 2015 grant from the Korean Ministry of Education for K-12 Korean language education development in Midwest regions. She has taught a comprehensive range of Korean language courses from elementary to advanced levels and serves as an ACTFL-certified OPI Tester and WPT Rater for Korean.