All wings involve turbulent flow, but to different degrees.

Laminar flow is analagous to the smooth part of the smoke coming off a cigarette or candle and the point where it begins to curl is where turbulent flow begins.

Airfoils where the flow stays laminar farther aft than about 40% of the wing chord are considered to be laminar flow even though few airfoils maintain laminar flow aft of 60-70% chord. Laminar flow has less drag but also less energy in the boundary layer and the boundary is more prone to separation (ie: a stall) at relatively lower angles of attack.

In the case of a "turbulent flow" wing, the turbulent air flow starts rather early and is present over the vast majority of the airfoil. Turbulent air flow has more energy in the boundary layer and will stay attached at higher angles of attack. Skin friction is also about an order of magnitude higher though, so they can be draggier at higher speeds.

So laminar flow is great for high speed flight, while turbulent flow is preferred at low speeds and higher angles of attack.

At the speeds and reynolds numbers involved in thermal gliding, turbulent flow has many advantages. Turbulators of any type essentially add energy to the boundary layer, induce turbulent flow and assist in keeping the airflow attached to the wing.

The boundary layer in a turbulent flow situation is a little thicker than in laminar flow, but I don't think a "bubble" is a good description as it is still very thin. If you have a bubble of reverse airflow of any significant depth, you have a stall with an attendent loss of lift and increase in drag. That is exactly what a turbulator is designed to prevent.

I have experience with a Drifter II with a pair of turbulator spars deisgned into the leading edge of the wing and particularly at the tips this results in three slightly concave shapes over the top of the first third of the airfoil. It works well as the glider is a floater and designed to thermal at maybe 12 mph. So there is really no parasitic drag penalty and the wing benefits from the improved flow attachment and efficiency at higher angles of attack.

I have other sailplanes where I have used trim striping strategically located to get the same effect. Used correctly with the striping doubled toward the tips, it can be as effective as washout in eliminating tip stalls but without the loss of overall wing efficiency that can occur with washout.