Li Joanna Liu received her B.A. in Chinese language and literature from Beijing Normal University and Ph.D. in Chinese linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley.
As a lecturer she has taught Mandarin for heritage and non-heritage students at various levels, Chinese Literature in Translation, History of Chinese Language, and the Structure of Chinese Language. Her research interests include Chinese historical phonology, word formation, philology, and pedagogy of language teaching. She has done several web-based language teaching projects. Her experience teaching Chinese heritage students has resulted in several papers and publications. She has served twice as Vice Chair for Chinese Language Teachers Association of California (CLTAC).