This research is aimed at developing an ESP learning material to fulfill the students’ needs in learning reading towards technical automotive skill program at vocational high school. It uses Research and Development (R&D) proposed by Borg and Gall as the research design of this research. This study was oriented to the product development in the form of procedural model and was conducted in two main stages; (1) exploration stage and (2) product development stage. The exploration stage includes: (1) the description of the existing condition of English textbook and (2) the need analysis of the ESP learning material. The product development stage describes: (1) the description of the prototype, (2) the tryout of the prototype, and (3) the feasibility of the product. This research was conducted at SMK Warga Surakarta. There were two teachers, the material expert, and thirty four students involved in this research. The data of the exploration stage were obtained through conducting document analysis, doing interview, and distributing questionnaire. It was done to know the quality of the existing English textbook used at SMK Warga Surakarta. The findings show that the textbook used at the school contains general English materials and it is less specific to be used for the students of technical automotive skill program. Thus, it implies that there should be ESP learning materials developed in regard to provide the teacher and to provide the students’ specific needs in learning reading. The ESP learning material was developed by considering some aspects. It contains theoretical theories of ESP, Theme-Based Learning, the existing curriculum, and also the students’ need. Then, it was evaluated and reviewed through the expert judgment and implemented in class XIH SMK Warga Surakarta, Central Java, to make the material feasible. Through conducting observation and having focus group discussion (FGD) between the researcher, the teacher, the expert, and the students, the prototype was revised to be the final prototype. Therefore, after the prototype was able to be used in the teaching and learning of reading, it was feasible so that it could be applied as a supplementary material for technical automotive skill program students.
Keywords: ESP, material development, research and development study, Theme-Based Learning, Textbook