Dewaele, Jean-Marc2008-08-292008-08-291994International Review of Applied Linguistics, 32(4) 275-3000019-042Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10315/1445This paper examines the effect of formality in 3 different situations on the oral production of advanced French interlanguage. An analysis of the morphological and lexical systems of 39 Dutch-speaking students revealed that, contrary to predictions (Tarone, 1988, 1992), the more formal situation does not lead to higher accuracy rates. On the contrary, a small but significant decrease in global morpholexical accuray rates was observed in the extracts produced in the more formal situation. This rather surprising pattern was explained using Levelt's (1989) monitor theory. An ANOVA allowed for the identifcation of the sociobiographical factors that determine interindividual variation in accuracy rates.frFrench as a Foreign LanguageStylistic VariationBelgiumForeign Language AcquisitionForeign Language VariationFrenchArticle