That's what I do, and I've never had a controller anywhere in the world not understand that phraseology.

I listened to the recording and did not hear the controller give a left turn. What I heard was turn to a 180 heading. It appears the crew then turned to a 018 heading.

I listened to the recording again. The controller absolutely asked for a LEFT TURN.

However, I was mistaken, I though the crew asked for expedited climb, and they did not, they asked for high speed climb, as was pointed out earlier in this thread. I still believe (not that it makes it right), the crew was confused and thinking expedited, based upon the situation.

A comedy of errors right from the start by everyone involved. Glad the result was still a safe arrival at the destination. Could have been very bad.

Where was the manager or monitor? Usually when something gets dorked up, someone with more experience talks over and corrects the situation.