Abstract
<p>Unequal access to classroom talk is a persistent equity issue in higher education. Yet participation is often treated as behavior to increase, with less attention to procedures through which students signal readiness and are considered for limited speaking opportunities. This study examines a rule-based classroom response system designed to make willingness-to-speak visible without compelling students to speak. We distinguish willingness, access, and actual talk, while empirically focusing on willingness signals. In a five-week comparison of two intact classes and 83 undergraduates at a Chinese public university, anonymous self-nomination and frequency-weighted speaker selection were associated with more frequent willingness-to-speak signals and a larger proportion of students signaling at least once than hand-raising. Post-intervention responses indicated that students perceived lower attention-related pressure and greater control over responding. Findings provide preliminary support for transparent procedures that make willingness visible and organize speaker selection among willing student.</p>