Different attitudes towards the definition of linguistic variations are noticeable in contemporary teaching of French as a foreign language. The difference depends on whether it is viewed from the perspective of traditionally understood exemplary linguistic levels le bon usage, from the standpoint of propositions – the “basic French language” the SGAV methodology is based on; or with the emergence of a communicative approach in foreign language teaching from the perspective of a moderately conservative and flexible attitude towards conservative linguistic norms. In order to study how linguistic variations in the teaching of French as a foreign language are treated, our research was based on an analysis of the use of different forms for expressing a direct partial question with interrogative adverbs où, quand, comment and pourquoi in seven selected methods published from the middle of the last century until the present day. The results of the qualitative and quantitative analyses of the abovementioned interrogative forms in the selected methods, illustrate significant oscillations in terms of the representation of interrogative forms derived from inversion and those which, contrary to the conservative linguistic norm and in accordance with the general tendencies in the French spoken language, preserve the word order characteristic of a statement. The obtained results indicate an expressed need for a more consistent pragmatic definition of linguistic variation in the contemporary teaching of French as a foreign language.