Effect of Cognitive Load Theory Based Instruction on Arabic-English Translation Performance among Hausa Speaking Undergraduates in North-West Nigeria

Arabic-English translation is essential for professional, academic, and religious communication in multilingual settings like North-West Nigeria. However, due to the cognitive demands of processing two languages at once, Hausa-speaking undergraduates frequently have ongoing challenges in completing efficient translation tasks. The study investigates how cognitive load theory-based instruction affects Arabic-English translation performance among Hausa-speaking undergraduates. It also looks at how important translation components—text segmentation and comprehension, expression clarity and fluency, and handling complex structures—respond to cognitively informed instructional strategies. A pre-experimental one-group pre-test and post-test design is used in the study. Using random sampling methods, sixty third-year Arabic undergraduate students from three universities in North-West Nigeria were chosen. Structured translation tests were used to gather data both before and after a six-week Cognitive Load Theory-based instructional intervention. Descriptive statistics and paired sample t-tests were used to assess the data. The results show that following the intervention, pupils' translation proficiency improved statistically significantly (p <.001). Notably, managing complicated structures showed the biggest gain, followed by text segmentation and comprehension, clarity, and fluency. The findings show that cognitively informed teaching methods improve translation proficiency and successfully lessen cognitive overload. The study concludes that Cognitive Load significantly influences translation performance in multilingual contexts and suggests incorporating Cognitive Load Theory into translating education to enhance overall learning outcomes, accuracy, and fluency