Can one learn English without reading?

Hi readers, may I pick your brains please? I know I can count on your guys. In one of my earlier posts, I wrote about my nephew struggling with English and I found it quite puzzling since my sisters and I have no problems whatsoever with English and I had simply assumed that the next generation would simply grow up speaking English as a first language. That is not the case with my nephew I'm afraid, so I asked my sister today what she thought the problem is and she pointed to what she thought was the cause of the problem: reading.

How important is reading for a child's development?

My nephew hates reading - perhaps it's a stereotype, but it seems boys are more likely to be active, to want to run around and play rather than sit down and read books. You see, my sisters and I grew up in a very Singlish/Mandarin speaking environment where nobody was really capable of speaking standard English - yet our mother insisted on us reading story books to improve our English. My two older sisters did as they were told and read many books - they started out with Enid Blyton and then went on to Agatha Christie and a range of different authors. They would often recommend books for me to read and I was very fortunate that my two sisters took the time to learn what kind of books would appeal to me. They took the time and trouble to source the right books for me so I would enjoy reading too. I did read, not as much as them, but enough to have a positive impact on my command of the English language. I owe a lot to my two older sisters by that token.

You see, despite the fact that we were in a very Singlish speaking environment where nobody spoke standard English, we grew accustomed to reading English written formally and properly in the books we read. For my nephew who hates reading, he writes the way he speaks - in Singlish and thus that is why he doesn't have a decent command of the basic rules of grammar because he doesn't read. It is evident that his teacher at school hasn't done enough to drill the rules of English grammar into his head - but then again, my teachers never did either, it was just something I picked up along the way (and reading helped, I supposed).

My mother realizes this and she is trying so hard to get my nephew to read but to no avail. She takes out the story book and reads it to him but you can see he is trying to run away, he is looking for escape. She has forced him to read with her and she would read one page, he would read the next - but it is not a process he enjoys. I am wondering if any of you teachers or parents might have any suggestions if you have students or children who are learning English as well? Do you insist that your children/students read?

I am trying to think of an alternative way for him to be exposed to formal grammatically correct standard English - if he doesn't pick up English grammar one way or another, then he is quite simply going to fail his PSLE English at this rate as he writes in Singlish, not English. Would watching TV help? Or is watching TV too passive a form of entertainment that your brain doesn't really engage when you're watching a programme? Surely a movie like 'Finding Nemo' would be great - it is engaging and entertaining but most of all, it would expose him to 100 minutes of standard English. Is that enough to undo the damage caused by years of speaking Singlish? Or are there Singaporean kids who watch loads of movies like Finding Nemo, Madagascar and Shrek but still end up speaking English very poorly?

Are there perhaps interactive computer games which will expose him to standard English - are there any interactive programmes that can be used to help improve his English? Or would a more immersive experience like that at Morris Allen tuition centre be the only remedy? I honestly don't know - that is why I am asking you for help. All my mother had to do was to make sure my sisters and I read enough books and everything just fell into place. Not only did I go on to get nothing but straight As in English, but I went on to become fluent in a few other languages like French, Spanish and Welsh. So we're kinda at a loss with a kid who is just not picking up the English language.

I did speak to someone today who is British and really hated reading as a child because he is dyslexic - reading was a chore, a pain and something he avoided as much as he could as a child. He told me how he would pretend to be sick just to avoid having to read something at school. Yet today, his English as flawless as a native speaker and he explained, "As a child, everyone around me was speaking standard English. My parents are well educated university professors and they sent me to a good school where everyone spoke standard English. Your nephew is surrounded by people speaking Singlish, not standard English - so short of sending him to England for a few years, to take him out of that Singlish speaking environment, I don't know what else to suggest if he is not picking up English well enough to pass his exams through his daily conversations. Don't blame your nephew, the poor kid - I know what it is like to be in his shoes to hate reading. Rather, blame those around him for not helping him enough."

Are students who don't read at a disadvantage?

Mind you, my dad's saying exactly the same thing about his command of Mandarin - my nephew isn't reading in Chinese either, so his knowledge of Chinese characters is limited to what is covered in the syllabus and he is not picking up new words from reading storybooks or newspapers. Groan. On one hand, if the kid doesn't wanna read, there's a part of me that says, "please leave him alone, don't force him lah, don't stress him out about it" - but on the other hand, if we're staring at the possibility of him failing his PSLE exams, I don't think we're in a position to be all that relaxed about him not reading. I am terribly conflicted on the issue, as is my family.

Guys, I'm at a loss. My sister is happy to try anything that works, but my parents are very cynical about Morris Allen. I have a feeling that's just because my parents are taking it very personally when I suggest that my mother is probably not the best person to teach my nephew, but then again, what have we got to lose by trying something different? So please my readers, over to you: have you any suggestions? How do we get over this reading issue? How do you deal with a child who just hates reading? Thanks for reading and I await your suggestions. Kum siah.