Shoudn't it be 'his students' instead of 'their students'?

[Karl]

Common Errors in English, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #13 "Infinitive vs. Gerund", question 8

The roll of the teacher as I understand it, is to help their students to think for themselves.

(a) roll
(b) as
(c) to
(d) themselves

Common Errors in English, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #13 "Infinitive vs. Gerund", answer 8

The role of the teacher as I understand it, is to help their students to think for themselves.

Correct entry: role
The error was: (a) roll

Your answer was: ?
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Shoudn't it be 'his students' instead of 'their students'?
Thanks.

Karl

[Alan]

Hi Karl,

The use of their here is to avoid the clumsy use of he/she or s/he. In other words it's a substitute for the impersonal possessive adjective.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Saying It Twice