Classroom participation in beginner Arabic courses is often interpreted through the number of students who answer questions aloud. This conceptual and practice-oriented paper argues that such a measure obscures differences between willingness to communicate, linguistic capacity, and the opportunity to participate. Drawing on research in Arabic learning, willingness to communicate, classroom discourse, interaction, and corrective feedback, it develops a barrier–indicator–response matrix for teacher decision-making. Six barriers are paired with provisional observable indicators, proportionate instructional responses, and limits on the evidence supporting each response. Three hypothetical Arabic classroom applications illustrate how the matrix can guide preparation, participation opportunities, and feedback without turning visible participation into a proxy for learning. The matrix is a heuristic rather than a validated diagnostic or intervention instrument. Future observational and intervention studies are needed to test its utility in beginner Arabic settings.