Textual Analysis of Transitivity in UNHCR Reports on the Ukrainian Refugees

The textual analysis of UNHCR reports on the Ukrainian refugees was conducted here to find out how those refugees have been represented in such reports. This study adopted Halliday and Matthiessen's (2004, 2014) systemic functional grammar approach, in particular, the clause as a representation. The study looked into the six types of transitivity processes: material, existential, relational, behavioral, verbal, and mental, to investigate their frequencies in these reports and how they function as the war continues. The data were collected from the UNHCR's online official website. Five reports were selected randomly to cover the period of the war from its breakthrough on 24th. February 2022 to September 21, 2022. A quantifying qualitative procedure was followed to show the aim behind repeating a certain process more than others. The findings showed that the material process was the most frequently used among others, signifying the UNHCR's role in taking action towards aiding refugees and their occupation in narrating refugees real conditions. However, the six processes were all used in the UNHCR reports with different frequencies, and the findings have revealed that the use of the six transitivity processes served well in conveying the intended meaning.