Using five different communication modes, 52 profoundly deaf students attending a residential school for the deaf were administered a videotaped presentation of a vocabulary test standardized for deaf and hearing-impaired populations. The five presentation modes used were: a) Total Communication (TC) with audio, b) TC without audio, c) Manual Communication with no mouth movement, d) Oral Communication (OC) with audio, and e) OC without audio. The participants were randomly assigned to five groups and tested individually. Response instructions were presented in the mode being tested. On the test, subjects pointed to the picture on a four-picture plate which most closely corresponded to the videotaped stimulus. Modes using MC yielded performances significantly superior to all other modes. There was no significant difference between MC, TC with audio, and TC without audio, nor between OC with and without audio.