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In our research, we have tried to look into one of the possible causes for the general lower academic achievements of children of Moroccan descent in Flanders, compared to children of Flemish descent. That possible cause is a difference in attention management. We have examined the correlation between the attention management and the vocabulary acquisition of six-year-olds. Besides that, we have examined the differences between toddlers of Flemish descent and toddlers of Moroccan descent, with regard to attention management. By means of a coding scheme, we analyzed the recordings of toddlers, who were present in an overhearing situation, which means they were primarily engaged in other activities, such as making a puzzle, during the narration of a story. The story contained words that were unfamiliar to the toddlers, on which they were tested afterwards. The coding scheme consists of 6 categories, which vary from a lack of attention for the story, to sustained attention for the story. Children of Moroccan descent generally showed a lack of attention, while children of Flemish descent generally showed sustained attention, combined with the occasional glance at the storytelling. It is a possibility that the children of Moroccan descent were less attentive to the story, because they were more attentive to their primary activity. Another possible explanation is a difference in the expression of attentiveness between children of Moroccan and of Flemish descent.Both the lack of attention and sustained attention appear to be related to vocabulary acquisition. Occasionally glancing at the story does not appear to have a substantial effect on vocabulary acquisition. For the children of Flemish descent, the occasional glancing appears to be an intermediate between a lack of attention and sustained attention. For the children of Moroccan descent, the occasional glancing appears to be a different kind of dimension of attentiveness. The results of our study indicate that the ...