JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION, ТОМ 12 № 1 (2026)Authors:
Hamza Hassoun
Ibnou Zohr University, Agadir, Souss-Massa, Morocco
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9000-3039
Naima Trimasse
Ibnou Zohr University, Agadir, Souss-Massa, Morocco
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6338-2347DOI: https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2026.29815
Background. While videos increasingly support flexible and student-centred learning in higher education, their pedagogical potential is often limited in practice. Transient information effects and insufficient emphasis on generative processing constrain active cognitive engagement. Empirical evidence evaluating how specific pedagogical frameworks, such as the 5E guided inquiry model, impact cognitive load dimensions in EFL higher education remains limited.
Purpose. To investigate how guided inquiry can foster generative processing in video-based learning and help address the transient information effect in terms of learning outcomes and cognitive load.Method. A pre/post-test quasi-experiment was conducted with 135 English department students, divided into a control group (n=65) and a treatment group (n=70). The participants were first-year EFL students who were novices in the subject domain and reported varied English proficiency, most commonly intermediate or upper-intermediate. Both groups studied the same content across eight sessions. The control group used educational videos and direct instruction, while the treatment group used educational videos combined with the 5E model of guided inquiry. Cognitive load was measured across essential, extraneous, and generative processing, while pre- and post-tests assessed retention and transfer.Results. Findings demonstrate that the treatment group achieved significantly higher retention (p < .001, r = .414). Due to a ceiling effect, transfer outcomes were deemed uninterpretable rather than evidence of comparability. While the aggregate cognitive-load subscales did not show between-group significance, results demonstrated a localised effect on invested cognitive effort, with one item remaining significant after Holm-Bonferroni correction (p < .001, r = .326). Within this context, the findings suggest that the initial increase in extraneous processing was not sustained over time and appeared to diminish as students adapted to the guided inquiry structure.Conclusion. This study applies multi-dimensional cognitive load measurements to a 5E guided inquiry intervention within an EFL higher education context. The results indicate that the original hypothesis was supported for retention and partially supported, at the item level, for invested cognitive effort. These findings offer a context-bound perspective for curriculum designers, suggesting that structured inquiry prompts can support foundational knowledge consolidation and specific facets of engagement in comparable EFL multimedia learning environments.
