A Study on Understanding the Title of Newspaper by Chinese Learners: Focusing on the vocabulary knowledge of advanced learners

Objectives The purpose of this study is to measure how vocabulary knowledge(both quantitative and qualitative) affects Chinese advanced learners when they understand the newspaper title. Methods To this end, a preliminary experiment was first conducted with four advanced learners (2 at Level 5 and 2 at Level 6). The preliminary experiment was used to address any ambiguities in the test materials and to adjust the number and order of the presented items. Based on the results of the preliminary experiment, a formal experi-ment was carried out with 60 advanced Chinese learners, divided into two phases: the first phase and a second phase involving post-experiment interviews. Additionally, this study conducted a statistical analysis of the col-lected data using SPSS 24.0, employing independent sample t-tests and paired sample t-tests. Results As a result, since advanced learners already have a certain quantitative vocabulary knowledge, there is little obstacle to understanding the title of newspaper without specific vocabulary. Conversely, it was found that a lack of qualitative vocabulary knowledge made it difficult to understand the title of newspaper with specific vocabulary. In particular, in the case of ‘vocabulary with figurative meaning’ and ‘the idiomatic phrases’ of the newspaper title, it was found that learners had more difficulty understanding the newspaper title. Conclusions Therefore, in order to improve the skilled vocabulary and practical vocabulary use of foreign learners, it is necessary to devise educational methods for these vocabulary in the future.