Would an native English speaking crew have handled it differently, possibly, but they weren't put in that position. It was a crew with English as a second (third or fourth) language.
A question for non-native English speakers on PPRuNe ... what would be understood by the colloquialism "southbound"? Granted it contains the word "south", but if you were not familiar with the word, what would "bound" mean to you as an adjunct? And what did these guys take it to mean?