The semiotic patterns in the different stages of the English learning advertisements，including both verbal and visual，vary greatly.Especially in terms of visual mode，there are several different genres of visual semiotics，such as generic images，realistic photos，abstract diagrams and tables.Accordingly，the ways in which the verbal and visual elements are linked semantically in these stages show sharp differences.However，there is an overarching principle of the visual-verbal coherence over the individual differences among these stages—the information linking principle.That is，the two modes must be linked through at least one information unit，whether directly or indirectly.Yet the actual patterns of information linking vary with the semiotic configurations in the stages.Altogether four different general patterns of visual-verbal relations are found.In the Reader Attraction stage，the relations between the verbal slogan and the theme picture are somewhat equal in status and both are indispensible for the communication of the hyper-topic as a whole.Therefore the visual-verbal coherence is conceptualized as a cline or range in which the degree of information linking between the visual and the verbal in every case can find its place.Five typical categories of such visual-verbal coherence in this cline have been identified in order to help clarify my argument.In the stages of Corporate Profile and Testimonial，the verbal mode takes a more dominant role than the visual mode.The semantic meaning is mainly developed in the verbal texts whereas the pictures，although starting from one of the information units in the verbal，have their own way to evoke emotions and positive attitudes in the readers.In the stages of

Teaching/Learning Method and Course Information，the visual elements—diagrams and tables—are more of technical genre.The connection between the diagram and its accompanying verbal text is the strongest among that of all stages through lexical repetition and information overlapping between the two modes.The tables in the stage of Course Information effectively compact the large amount of verbal information in a categorized，comparable，yet unified whole.