ABSTRACT
This article examines the relation between a language testing code of ethics and a code of practice by discussing the development of the Japan Language Testing Association (JLTA) draft Code of Practice. It claims that the relation between the two sorts of codes is not as straightforward as seems to be assumed by the authors of the International Language Testing Association (ILTA) Code of Ethics. But it argues that a code of ethics is useful in deciding to whom a code of practice should apply and in justifying the inclusion of the various elements in the code of practice. One reason JLTA had for demanding that our Code of Practice apply to both high- and low-stakes testing is rooted in the ILTA Code of Ethics—the demand that all test takers be treated as fairly as possible. It is also claimed that the purpose of a code of practice, in Japan at least, is not to discipline members of our professional organization but to hasten the day when testing practices that treat test takers unfairly are replaced by those a consensus of professional language testers believe are fairer.
