Despite their permeation in standard French, language variations, such as "argot" and "verlan" are seldom included in the curriculum of French university language programs in the U.S. Variations are often perceived negatively, leading to stigmatization towards the social groups who use them (Bourdieu 1982; Devereaux and Palmer, 2019; Lippi-Green, 2012; Metz, 2019). However, "argot" and "verlan" have been long an integral part of daily speech, attested in dictionaries, in literature, and in the media (Torreira, Adda-Decker and Ernestus, 2010; Cervenkova, 2013). This research focuses on the teaching and learning of French variations, and especially the attitudes and beliefs of educators and learners of French towards "argot" and "verlan" at the university level in the U.S. Informed by Sociocultural Theory (Vygotsky, 1978), the concept of the symbolic power of language (Bourdieu, 1982), and raciolinguistics (Rosa and Flores, 2017) my study asks: 1) What are the beliefs and attitudes of educators about teaching French variations and especially "argot" and "verlan," in foreign language classrooms?, 2) How do educators' beliefs and attitudes about French variations influence the teaching of "argot," and "verlan" in foreign language classrooms?, and 3) What are the beliefs and attitudes of students about learning French variations and especially "argot" and "verlan" in the foreign language classroom? I conducted online surveys, one-on-one and focus-group interviews with a language program director, instructors, and learners of French at a large university. The findings reveal that participants' social representations and the ways variations are presented in class suggest a racialization of the language and a stigmatization of their speakers. While students think it is important to know the language as it is spoken, they also want to speak "proper" French, coded implicitly as "white, upper-middle class" French, implying that educators' attitudes impact students' beliefs. As a result, the stigmatization of languages is perpetuated, and students miss the opportunity to learn not only an important part of the French language, but also a cultural, social, and historical aspect. More broadly, my research documents the necessity of deconstructing the cliche of standard languages and creating a more diverse and inclusive space in the classroom and beyond. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]