Bilingualism, Restoration and Language Norms

What does bilingualism mean when we use it as a policy goal? If an organisationor politydeclares itself bilingual orsubscribes to apolicy of bilingualism, what sort of language use should we expectas a result of that policy?'Bilingual'and 'bilingualism'are terms that strain under the semantic burden of a wide range of meanings as they are usedto describe both individuals and groupsin a number of different contexts, from sociolinguistics to applied linguistics, anthropology, child development,education,language policy and planning, as well asinpopular and political discourses on language use and ability (see Dunbar in this volume).Andbilingualism isalsofrequentlynamed asan objectivein language policy and planning documents.Certainly, bilingualism in one form or another is a common policy goal at all levels in Ireland and Scotland, butwe could ask,given this uncertainty and multiplicity of meanings,is it always clear what specific norms of language use are being advancedwhen anorganisationor polityadopts a policy of bilingualism?