I'm not really sure of anything. But I cannot believe that freshmen college students are
lying or being lazy when they will not give a correct answer in front of the rest of the
class and will refuse to ask questions when they do not know the answer.

That is EXACTLY about 'face'. They won't answer a question in front of the class in case they are wrong and 'lose face'; they won't ask a question in front of the class because they think they will 'lose face' for not knowing the answer in the first place.

Annoying and frustrating!

Last semester I put signs up in every classroom - 'Never Be Afraid To Ask A Question', but the only time kids asked questions was after class when I was gagging for a smoke!

I get heaps of students asking questions on a one-to-one basis, but rarely in class. When I ask them why, they just go all 'sheepish' and say they don't like to...