Collocation Graphs and Networks: Selected Applications

This chapter discusses the notion of collocation graphs and networks, which not only represent visualisation of the collocational relationship traditionally displayed in a tabular form but also constitute a novel analytical technique. This technique, although originally proposed by Philips in 1985, has only recently gained prominence with the introduction of the #LancsBox tool (Brezina et al., Int J Corpus Linguist 20:139–173, 2015), which can, among other things, build collocation graphs and networks on the fly. Simple collocation graphs and collocation networks show association and cross-association between words in language and discourse and can thus be used in a range of areas of linguistic and social research. This chapter demonstrates the use of the collocation network technique in (i) discourse analysis, (ii) language learning research and (iii) lexicography, providing three case studies that focus not only on the variety of applications but also on different methodological choices involved in using the technique.