In this, the first issue of English Today's 39 volume, the editorial team continues striving to bring readers the best of current research and description of the English language. Volume 38 marked an important milestone in the development of English Today, as the size of the volume increased from 256 to 288 pages. That was the first increase in more than three decades, and Cambridge University Press has decided to again increase the page quota of Volume 39 to 340 pages. With a 33% increase in the size of the journal over the last two years, English Today will bring readers even more of the high-quality research that they have come to expect from the journal.

In this issue we would like to highlight three peer-reviewed research articles. Sven Leuckert, Theresa Neumaier and Asya Yurchenko describe English within the Atlantic island Madeira, a territory that has strong historical ties to both Great Britain and Portugal. Kofi Yakpo compares the historical development of two English creole languages – Krio (spoken in Sierra Leone) and Pichi (which was brought to Equatorial Guinea from Sierra Leone) – to suggest that language ecology factors distinct to each place have influenced Krio's development toward English and Pichi's development toward Spanish. Finally, Edgar W. Schneider examines the use of the English expression ‘all things new’ as the name of an arts festival in Singapore to develop a more nuanced understanding of linguistic creativity.

The rest of the issue is filled with a number of short articles. Next, Isabel Balteiro examines lexical innovations that have recently emerged within the tabloid press and considers how this media genre might be especially innovative. Brian Poole examines online headlines phrased as questions to ask ‘are they clickbait?’ Janice Nakamura reviews the advice offered in Japanese self-help books for raising bilingual children. Hohsung Choe and Seongyong Lee consider the challenges faced by English teachers who are not from North America when they teach in Korean contexts that take North American varieties as standard. Chit Cheung Matthew Sung examines the ideologies related to English as a lingua franca in Hong Kong, and Omar I. S. Alomoush examines the use of English in medical practice in Jordan. Finally, English Today is especially pleased to present a study of English in Instagram tourism advertisements authored by Guyanne Wilson and nine post-graduate students from Germany's Ruhr-University Bochum.

For the editors