Vocabulary Density and Grammatical Complexity in English News Headlines for Esl University Students

Abstract Book of the 10th International Conference on Teaching, Learning and Education

Year: 2025

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Vocabulary Density and Grammatical Complexity in English News Headlines for Esl University Students

Ekaterine Kurdadze

ABSTRACT:

This paper aims to investigate the linguistic characteristics of English news headlines, focusing on vocabulary density and grammatical complexity for English as a Second Language (ESL) students at Akaki Tsereteli State University, Kutaisi, Georgia. Few studies, if any, have been conducted to analyze the precise linguistic features of headlines that pose difficulties for first-year-students who take the learning course (The Language of the Press) that enables students to understand the language of English newspapers through the study of various articles and learning specific forms of the language style which are not found in conventional language materials. News headlines are characterized by their condensed nature and distinct stylistic conventions, thus representing a challenging aspect of language acquisition for non-native speakers. This discourse analysis draws on a comparative corpus of news headlines from diverse English press sources, including broadsheets and tabloids. Quantitative analysis measures lexical density and assesses the frequency of complex grammatical structures, such as nominalizations and passive voice, while qualitative analysis examines specific instances of challenging vocabulary and syntactic reduction. Findings suggest that broadsheets typically exhibit a higher lexical density and more intricate structures than tabloids, and these features can significantly impede ESL students’ rapid comprehension and hinder the inferential process necessary for vocabulary acquisition. A questionnaire was designed for university students to find out common hurdles they encounter and their perceptions of the challenges throughout the learning course. The study emphasizes the necessity for focused guidance on the discourse features of news headlines and offers explicit teaching strategies that help students to comprehend headline language and develop media vocabulary.

Keywords: Broadsheets, Tabloids, Lexis, Language, Style