"The child played with ____ truck" doesn't fit the paradigm, since the reference is to a specific child who is either male or female (and the speaker would presumably know which). Quite different from "Each child should play with ___ truck," where "their" would fit. Dick Veit ________________________________ Richard Veit Department of English University of North Carolina Wilmington ________________________________ From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Alison Cochrane Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 12:37 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: more teaching questions on grammar If the sentence on such standardized tests reads: The boy played with _____ truck, and the choices were either his or their, of course the standardized answer would be his. However, if the sentence were to read: The child played with ______ truck, and the choices were the same, I think then there would be a question of gender/cultural bias in this assessment. Hopefully more times than not, students will be assessed authentically through their writing and not by multiple choice questions. This will allow them to show their knowledge instead of limiting them to right/wrong answers that engage low level thinking skills. Alison "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be. " ~ Kahlil Douglas Adams ________________________________ See what's new at AOL.com <http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170> and Make AOL Your Homepage <http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169> . To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/