Despite the recognized importance of grammar knowledge to the reading comprehension of EFL learners, research findings on the relationships among grammar knowledge, vocabulary, and reading comprehension are inconclusive. Attention needs to be paid to issues such as the distinct roles of the two grammar knowledge components of form and meaning, and the direct and mediating roles of vocabulary in EFL reading comprehension. This study recruited 1,149 sixth graders as research participants to evaluate these issues. The measurement tools were standardized EFL competence tests for vocabulary size, grammar forms and meanings, and reading comprehension. Structural equation modeling (SEM) regression models indicated that vocabulary played a more-significant role in reading comprehension than grammar knowledge; moreover, the effects of grammar knowledge were reduced but still significant when grammar meanings were excluded. The SEM mediating model of this study also indicated that grammar knowledge not only exerted a direct effect on reading comprehension but also indirectly influenced reading comprehension via vocabulary.

Research in ESL/EFL writing has shown there is a need for a framework that explores teaching contexts and decision making within various settings, and the way writing instructors work within a variety of teaching contexts (Pardo, 2006). This chapter intends to fill this gap by examining how ESL/EFL writing teachers negotiate differing teaching practices and professional cultures in their classroom writing instruction. The authors adopted an autoethnography approach (Ellis, 2009) to illuminate the hidden feelings, motivations, and tensions posed by cultural factors in their classroom writing instruction (Canagarajah, 2012). The results of the study show that three contextual factors—school policy, teachers' identities as writers, and the type of students—affect writing instruction in significant ways. There is a need to construct locally appropriate responses to support the preparation and professionalism of ESL/EFL writing instructors due to the changing sociopolitical and socioeconomic contexts in which teachers are positioned.