5.3.3　The“learning method”phase in the Statements of Competitiveness stage

As mentioned in Section 4.3.3，in the stage“Statements of Competitiveness”the most frequently occurred phases are“teaching team”and“teaching/learning method”.The phase“teaching team”has similar visual-verbal relations with the Testimonial stage which will not be elaborated again.Thus this section will focus on the visual-verbal relations in the phase“learning method”.

As already analyzed in Section 4.3.3，the phase“learning method”is characterized by the prevalent use of diagrams.The proponents of semiotics have long held the idea that we learn to interpret the signs of oral，graphic，and other communication media in much the same way.Thus，in this view，a visual technical genre like the chart and diagram is something similar to speech，written expression or gestures as another way of expressing meaning.Looked at through this lens，the underlying message of the diagram is how it communicates information rather than what type of information it communicates（Brasseur，2003：81）.

We need to note that the word“diagram”is often coupled together with“chart”.According to Brasseur（2003：80），the reason is tied to an interest in placing the genre within the large conceptual framework of qualitative displays.Thus we have to join the two words“chart”and“diagram”.The word“diagram”will cover both diagram and chart in the following discussions，if not specified otherwise.

Diagram is defined as“a visually abstract medium，first，and second，that they are subjective visual representations of what one person or group of persons is thinking”（Brasseur，2003：85）or“abstract graphic portrayals of the subject matter they represent”（Lowe，1993，cited in Brasseur，2003：71）or“simplified figures，caricatures in a way，intended to convey essential meanings”（Hall，1996，cited in Brasseur，2003：71）.What these definitions have in common are：（i）it is visually abstract，and（ii）it represents something abstract，that is，the essence of the subject matter or more precisely，the mental representation of it.In essence，diagrams are the kind of drawings that tend to show a basic abstract structure rather than a more highly contextualized view（Brasseur，2003：72）.Typically，they can be thought of as providing something akin to the essence of the situation or idea.

These two features distinguish diagram as a genre of visual semiotic system from pictures as another genre of it.Picture，as a visual genre，is characterized by its largely iconic way of representation（see for example，Messaris，1997）.That is，although chart and diagram belong to the visual semiotic system together with pictures，they have characteristics very different from pictures.In actual discourses，the edge of diagrams over purely verbal text is robust in empirical research.Specifically，people are more inclined to approach an abstract problem from the diagram than from a verbal description of it.The reason is attributed to the short-term memory.The very linear arrangement of verbal text would force the person to figure out the problem by focusing attention on individual words and sentences，retain that information and connect it to the sentences that follow.In contrast，diagram allows information at one place or another to be accessed and processed simultaneously.Since in diagrams the entities/activities and the relationships among them are visually represented，they are able to reduce the cognitive load for readers.As a result，“a diagram can help make abstract textual content more concrete and understandable”（Schriver，1997，cited in Brasseur，2003：83）.Thus diagram is a highly appreciated，or even indispensible visual genre in scientific discourses which are characterized by its abstractness and complexity.

In the phase“teaching/learning method”，the advertiser tries to convince readers that their teaching method is scientific and thus reliable and effective.The use of diagrams is a manifestation of their attempt to align with scientific discourses.

Due to the characteristics of diagrams and the unique communicative purpose of this phase，the local coherence between the verbal and the visual will take on very different patterns from that of the previous stages.A careful study of the corpus found that there are two major ways of visual-verbal connection：（i）repetition of some lexical items，and（ii）overlap of the key information units between the visual and the verbal.In other words，the verbal text and the diagram（i）contain identical lexical items and（ii）represent one same information unit in their respective ways.The former mainly involves the entities，or key conceptual items in the so-called teaching method，and the latter is mainly concerned with the structure of the diagram，specifically，the structure of the diagram is often a visual embodiment of certain words in the verbal text.

Figure 5.11　An example of the“teaching/learning method”phase

Take Figure 5.11 for instance，the verbal text has an introduction—main body—conclusion structure.The main body which comprises four paragraphs is structured around the four elements：（i）i teach，（ii）i study，（iii）i talk and（iv）i club.In the last conclusion paragraph，the relationship between them is presented as forming a cycle of effective learning.

i longman课程通过i teach、i study、i talk和i club四个环节的学习来完成一个话题的学习循环。学生通过四个环节的学习对每个话题的相关知识有充分的理解，全面的复习和拓展，以及反复的练习和应用，进而达到最佳学习效果。

The diagram is also structured around the four major conceptual items“i teach”，“i study”，“i talk”and“i club”as four steps of a flow chart.The use of the cycle shape，arrows and number sequencing conveys the meaning that these four steps form a complete cycle of learning.This visual structure is in correspondence to the information“循环”（cycle）in the verbal text.Here between the composite diagram and the verbal text，both repetition of lexical items and crossing on key information are used to construct local coherence between the verbal and visual modes.

According to the conceptualization of the information linking principle in Section 5.3.1，crossing on key information unit is a category which is closer to the maximum end of the cline of the degree of visual-verbal connection.In other words，it is a relatively strong type of semantic connection.Lexical repetition，on the other hand，is an overt marker for the existence of a strong connection between the two discourse units.The combination of the two coherence strategies renders the verbal-diagram connection very strong.Compared to the verbal-pictorial relations in the Reader Attraction stage，the strong verbal-diagram coherence in the“teaching/learning method”phase restricts the number of possible interpretations and thus reduces ambiguity.The precision in interpretation is also a feature of the scientific discourses.The strong connection between verbal text and the diagrams can help readers integrate the content from words and pictures，thus facilitates readers to process holistically and achieve a better understanding of the whole.The diagram can help visually clarify the textual content.In turn，good integration of the diagram to its surrounding text can help insure the understanding of the diagram.

The diagram in the above sample is a composite one because in the centre a picture of two female students is embedded.The insertion of pictures in the diagram，according to Brasseur（2003：85），is“an increasing method of insuring the communication abilities of diagrams”.Its function is“to heighten interest rather than increase information content”（Brasseur，2003：85）.The actual effect，however，is controversial：some researchers believe that including pictures may insert more contextual and emotional content while some others argue that these pictorial elements may unwittingly impede or even reduce the intake of information.Therefore，the designers must be very careful in choosing the pictures to insert，or even decide whether or not to insert a picture at all，in order to make it achieve the communicative effects as intended.

According to Brasseur（2003），charts and diagrams have the ability to communicate the rhetorical relations between elements in an argument and are a heuristic device to the designers.Diagrams derive their power from the ability to convey an immediate perceptual impression.Compared to the verbal texts which require a linear reading on the reader's part，the charts and diagrams are advantageous perceptually.In the context in which the advertisements have to compete for attention，the inclusion of charts and diagrams in this phase is，first of all，an attention-attracting device.Another reason for the use of charts and diagrams in this“teaching/learning method”phase might be attributed to their intertextuality with scientific discourses.Through the alignment with science，at least in visual format，they can hopefully evoke the similar attitudes people hold for science.

In summary，the visual-verbal connection is stronger and closer than that in other stages and phases by means of lexical repetition and information overlapping between the visual and the verbal.The pattern of semiotic configurations in this phase shows its intextuality with scientific discourses.The patterns of how visual elements and verbal elements cohere into a whole are in accordance with the communicative purpose of this phase.