# Automated essay scoring with string kernels and word embeddings

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1804.07954 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.07954/

## Key facts

- Cited by 31 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 21 Apr 2018.

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 31)

- [Applying Large Language Models and Chain-of-Thought for Automatic Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.03748/) (2023)
- [Exploring LLM Prompting Strategies for Joint Essay Scoring and Feedback Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.15845/) (2024)
- [On the Use of BERT for Automated Essay Scoring: Joint Learning of Multi-Scale Essay Representation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.03835/) (2022)
- [Unleashing Large Language Models' Proficiency in Zero-shot Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.04941/) (2024)
- [Many Hands Make Light Work: Using Essay Traits to Automatically Score Essays](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.00781/) (2021)
- [Rationale Behind Essay Scores: Enhancing S-LLM's Multi-Trait Essay Scoring with Rationale Generated by LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.14202/) (2024)
- [When Automated Assessment Meets Automated Content Generation: Examining Text Quality in the Era of GPTs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.14488/) (2023)
- [Autoregressive Multi-trait Essay Scoring via Reinforcement Learning with Scoring-aware Multiple Rewards](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.17472/) (2024)
- [Clustering Word Embeddings with Self-Organizing Maps. Application on LaRoSeDa -- A Large Romanian Sentiment Data Set](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.04197/) (2021)
- [FreSaDa: A French Satire Data Set for Cross-Domain Satire Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.04828/) (2021)
- [Unveiling the Tapestry of Automated Essay Scoring: A Comprehensive Investigation of Accuracy, Fairness, and Generalizability](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.05655/) (2024)
- [Autoregressive Score Generation for Multi-trait Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.08332/) (2024)
- [DREsS: Dataset for Rubric-based Essay Scoring on EFL Writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.16733/) (2024)
- [EssayJudge: A Multi-Granular Benchmark for Assessing Automated Essay Scoring Capabilities of Multimodal Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.11916/) (2025)
- [CAFES: A Collaborative Multi-Agent Framework for Multi-Granular Multimodal Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.13965/) (2025)
- [Teach-to-Reason with Scoring: Self-Explainable Rationale-Driven Multi-Trait Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.20748/) (2025)
- [Unsupervised Document Embedding via Contrastive Augmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.14542/) (2021)
- [H-AES: Towards Automated Essay Scoring for Hindi](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.14635/) (2023)
- [Text Classification Under Class Distribution Shift: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.12965/) (2025)
- [An overview of artificial intelligence in computer-assisted language learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.02032/) (2025)
- [Has Automated Essay Scoring Reached Sufficient Accuracy? Deriving Achievable QWK Ceilings from Classical Test Theory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.19131/) (2026)
- [PsyScore: A Psychometrically-Aware Framework for Trait-Adaptive Essay Scoring and ZPD-Scaffolded Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.20287/) (2026)
- [UnibucKernel: Geolocating Swiss German Jodels Using Ensemble Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.09379/) (2021)
- [Cognitively Aided Zero-Shot Automatic Essay Grading](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.11258/) (2021)
- [Toward Educator-focused Automated Scoring Systems for Reading and Writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.11973/) (2021)
- [Enhancing Automated Essay Scoring With Three Techniques: Two-Stage Fine-Tuning, Score Alignment, and Self-Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.01747/) (2026)
- [Trait-Aware Policy Optimization for Autoregressive Multi-Trait Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.25731/) (2026)
- [Composable Cross-prompt Essay Scoring by Merging Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.18548/) (2025)
- [Decision-Level Ordinal Modeling for Multimodal Essay Scoring with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.14891/) (2026)
- [A Unified Framework to Elicit Structured Feedback for Interpretable Multi-Trait Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.28407/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In this work, we present an approach based on combining string kernels and word embeddings for automatic essay scoring. String kernels capture the similarity among strings based on counting common character n-grams, which are a low-level yet powerful type of feature, demonstrating state-of-the-art results in various text classification tasks such as Arabic dialect identification or native language identification. To our best knowledge, we are the first to apply string kernels to automatically score essays. We are also the first to combine them with a high-level semantic feature representation, namely the bag-of-super-word-embeddings. We report the best performance on the Automated Student Assessment Prize data set, in both in-domain and cross-domain settings, surpassing recent state-of-the-art deep learning approaches.