This multiple case study investigated the application of the genre‐based approach (GBA) in a second‐semester university‐level Arabic class. This article depicts the linguistic features that make possible the recounting of habitual events (recount) in Arabic and outlines how during the GBA, both (1) the notion of purpose for writing and (2) the connection between that purpose and the necessary language features helped students produce culturally informed recounts. An analysis of the writing of three students, representing three different performance levels, before and after having received instruction in genre‐based writing, revealed differences in the linguistic resources that students employed to convey meaning. Implications for foreign language genre pedagogy are discussed.