Annotation. The article examines the linguistic, socio-cultural, psychological aspects of the concept of “authenticity” in teaching a foreign language, as well as its terminology and classification from the point of view of various linguists-scientists. The effectiveness of the use of authentic material in the educational process, in particular when stimulating the language environment in English lessons, is analyzed. The arguments of methodologists-philologists on the advantages and disadvantages of the used authentic texts, materials of an academic and adapted nature, are presented.

Keywords: authenticity, authentic texts, academic needs, lexical units, linguistic aspect, socio-cultural aspect, psychological aspect, inauthentic materials, language competence.