The use of multimodal communication by one moderately mentally retarded, nonphysically impaired teenage girl was investigated. Eighty minutes of language samples were transcribed, coded, and analysed for modes of communication, communicative intent, discourse function, and context of conversation. It was found that six different modes of communication, and various combinations of these modes, were used throughout the samples. A strong relationship between mode of communication and communicative Intent was found. Furthermore, the context of conversation influenced the mode of communication. No strong relationship was found, however, between discourse function and mode of communication. Implications of this research for a theory of multimodal communication in the nonverbal, as well as suggestions for clinical intervention with this population, are discussed. / Medicine, Faculty of / Audiology and Speech Sciences, School of / Graduate