Is there any evidence that students are more likely to watch a video over reading homework?
It's been a while since I was a student, but I think it's still worth saying this:

I find it easier (as in less effort) to just sit through a video than read a book.  

But: If I actually want to learn something or I have a specific task to solve, I find the linear format of videos extremely constraining, and I find them frustratingly slow.  Like most people, I read much faster than normal talking speed. I can also skim texts easily, and find the relevant part, or go back and check a formula again.  This is not possible with videos.  There's a reason for taking notes in class instead of just recording it: a recording is not going to be useful for preparing for the exam.

You mentioned that many of your students are not native speakers of English.  This is a big reason to avoid videos in favour of written material.  I am not a native speaker either, and even though for the past few years English was the language I used the most, I still prefer watching English-speaking films with English subtitles.  When watching videos there will always, always be at least a few words I can't catch or I can only comprehend with a few seconds' delay.  Listening is simply more work for my brain than reading, and makes it just a little bit harder to pay attention to the content.



My personal opinion on the matter (no more than an opinion!) is that some students are indeed more likely to watch videos than read texts.  But that's only because it feels like less effort to them.  In reality videos are going to be less efficient at communicating information.  They will require significantly more time commitment from you and they will require more time commitment from motivated students as well, who would be able to learn faster from written material.  But yes: I do think unmotivated students are more likely to watch a video than to read  a text.

Personally I find it very frustrating when the only material available is a video because it just slows me down and forces me to take notes I wouldn't need to take if I already had written material ...