還在用陽性代名詞來代表可男可女的名詞嗎？

在英文裡，若前面的單數名詞性別不確定，後面再度出現時，傳統上用陽性代名詞來代表，可是這種作法有嚴重的性別偏見，早已不符時代精神，不曉得現在中小學的教材怎麼處理？

目前常見的替代方案有三，其一是用 he or she（或其他相關的變化／變體），其二是名詞改複數，自然就避開 he/she 的尷尬，其三是用 they（或其他相關的變化）來代表。這三種策略我在課堂上都跟同學講過，應該不會有人還用陽性代名詞來代表可男可女的名詞吧？

最近瀏覽牛津詞典（Oxford Dictionaries）的網站，看到本週語言小竅門（language tip of the week）專文介紹這個觀念，語言淺顯易懂，便將之轉貼於此，與大家分享。

‘He or she’ versus ‘they’

It’s often important to use language which implicitly or explicitly includes both men and women, making no distinction between the genders. This can be tricky when it comes to pronouns. In English, a person's gender is explicit in the third person singular pronouns (i.e., he, she, his, hers, etc.). There are no personal pronouns that can refer to someone (as opposed to something) without identifying whether that person is male or female. So, what should you do in sentences such as these?

‧If your child is thinking about a gap year, ? can get good advice from this website.

‧A researcher has to be completely objective in ? findings.

In the past, people tended to use the pronouns he, his, him, or himself in situations like this:

‧If your child is thinking about a gap year, he can get good advice from this website.

‧A researcher has to be completely objective in his findings.

Today, this approach is seen as outdated and sexist. There are other options which allow you to arrive at a ‘gender-neutral’ solution, as follows:

★ You can use the wording ‘he or she’, ‘his or her’, etc.:

‧If your child is thinking about a gap year, he or she can get good advice from this website.

‧A researcher has to be completely objective in his or her findings.

This can work well, as long as you don’t have to keep repeating ‘he or she’, ‘his or her’, etc. throughout a piece of writing.

★ You can make the relevant noun plural, rewording the sentence as necessary:

‧If your children are thinking about a gap year, they can get good advice from this website.

‧Researchers have to be completely objective in their findings.

This approach can be a good solution, but it won’t always be possible.

★ You can use the plural pronouns ‘they’, ‘them’, ‘their’ etc., despite the fact that, technically, they are referring back to a singular noun:

‧If your child is thinking about a gap year, they can get good advice from this website.

‧A researcher has to be completely objective in their findings.

Some people object to the use of plural pronouns in this type of situation on the grounds that it’s ungrammatical. In fact, the use of plural pronouns to refer back to a singular subject isn’t new: it represents a revival of a practice dating from the 16th century. It’s increasingly common in current English and is now widely accepted both in speech and in writing.