Because of the varied interests of the people involved in intercultural communication, there is little agreement over the definition of that concept. For this reason, no theories of intercultural communication exist; rather, the focus of recent writings in the field has been on a number of "sensitizing concepts" that provide a framework for beginning to understand communication between people from different cultures. The major problem with the utilization of such concepts is that they are often discussed in isolation and are seldom related directly to the process of communication. If the study of intercultural communication is to develop further, scholars in the field need to begin constructing theories. They must begin to adapt/modify current theorizing in the field of communication to take into consideration the major cultural variables that may intervene and influence the communication process. In addition, they must persuade communication scholars that all communication processes are similarly influenced by "cultural" variables. Thus the major promise of theorizing in intercultural communication lies in bringing about a convergence in the discipline on the importance of the cultural identity of communicators in understanding the communication process. Only by successfully accomplishing this task will the study of human communication be moved developmentally toward a "mature science." (FL)