This study aimed to explore the role of inference making in the relation between vocabulary knowledge (breadth and depth) and reading comprehension for 487 ninthgrade Chinese EFL students who were categorized as either struggling or adequate. Path analysis was used to examine both direct and mediated effects. The results indicated a statistically significant indirect effect of vocabulary knowledge on reading comprehension, mediated by inference making, for the entire participant group. However, there were notable differences between the struggling and adequate readers, as evidenced by distinct path diagrams. For struggling readers, the indirect effect of vocabulary breadth on reading comprehension through inference making was significant, while that of vocabulary depth was not significant. For adequate readers, both vocabulary breadth and depth directly explained reading comprehension. These results are discussed in the EFL context, encompassing assessment and instructional implications for EFL readers with varying levels of reading abilities.

The purpose of this study was to develop English writing instruction models in order to improve 1st grade high school students’ writing ability under the communicative framework. A writing pattern ‘describing pictures and making an inference’ was utilized to develop writing instruction models and lesson plans. In order to accommodate a wider range of teachers’ needs in high school, the study took into consideration two teaching conditions, learner proficiency levels (high, mid, and low) and skill integration (listening, writing, and reading, writing) in the development process. A total of five English writing instruction models and lesson plans for different teaching conditions were developed using two chapters extracted from two textbooks. The characteristics of the newly developed models and lesson plans were provided so that teachers can easily modify them for their own needs in the practice. Further, the writing pattern ‘describing pictures and making an inference’ turned out to be quite adaptable to real teaching conditions and seemed to contribute to enhancing students’ creativity as well as their writing skills. At the end, study limitations were discussed.