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The NRS has been
developed by a team of experienced English as a Second Language (ESL), Numeracy and Adult
Literacy and Basic Education (ALBE) practitioners. The research has drawn from a range of
sources, including the National
Framework of Adult English Language, Literacy and Numeracy Competence (National Framework),
theories of language development and task complexity, and an analysis of over 30
curriculum documents. Wider practitioner input has been achieved through focus groups
workshops and field testing processes. The project has been supported by an Advisory Committee drawn from professional associations, education systems, funding bodies, industry training boards, trade unions and employers. An Academic Reference Group comprised of researchers with interests spanning linguistics, social and critical literacy, numeracy, educational assessment and workplace reform has also provided valuable input to the project. Following meetings of the Academic Reference Group and the Advisory Committee, and after much careful consideration, it was agreed that no one theory of language or learning was, as yet, sufficiently developed or uncontested to provide the basis for the project. In the absence then of one theoretical or empirically derived model, the Academic Reference Group recommended that the Project Team develop a set of principles which could explain progress along a continuum. Hence, the NRS has been designed to be inclusive of the range of theories, philosophies and curriculum approaches currently in practice. These include activity theory, genre theory and Systemic Functional Linguistics, critical linguistics, critical literacy pedagogy and theories of task and text complexity, adult learning, constructivism, critical constructivism, second language acquisition and assessment.
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