The notion of local coherence in the purely linguistic sense can be usefully extended to multimodal discourses.In the English learning advertisements under discussion，the local coherence focuses on the semantic connection between the visual and verbal elements in the various stages of this specific genre.Information linking is used as a fundamental principle for the conceptualization and measurement of the visual-verbal connections.Four patterns of information linking have been identified in the different stages of the English learning advertisements.

The analysis of the visual-verbal connection in the various stages in the English learning advertisements reveals that information linking has a key place in the construction of local coherence.However different are the visual and verbal patterns，they must be linked by the information they represent in some way in order to be perceived as a coherent whole.The effects of information linking on the cognitive processing and appreciation on the readers will be explored through empirical methods in Chapter 7.

The textual analysis in this chapter may give the impression that all the visual and verbal texts are well connected semantically except for those in the Reader Attraction stage in which the patterns can be highly varied.In other words，it is not intended that the visual and the verbal in the stages such as Corporate Profile，Testimonial and Statements of Competitiveness are all closely connected semantically through sharing at least one information unit.It is certainly not the case.Coherence is，in nature，not a yes-or-no matter，but a matter of degree.As Halliday and Hasan（2001：296）argue，“textuality is not a matter of all or nothing”，“characteristically we find variation in texture，so that textuality is a matter of more or less”.They observe that in some instances the texture is much looser.It is also true of the textuality of multimodal discourses.Therefore，it is natural that in some English learning advertisements the visual and the verbal may not be so well linked in semantic meaning.Instead of being a semiotic component connecting with the adjacent verbal text in the stage and contributing to the higher-level topic，some visuals may have a purely decorative purpose，and at some point they“move from being engaging motivators to engaging distracters”（Pettersson，2002：108）.These less coherent cases will not be elaborated here.However，whether the degree of local coherence has effects on the cognitive processing and evaluation of the advertisements as a whole is a very interesting and meaningful question.An attempt to answer this question through empirical research methods will be discussed in detail in Chapter 7.