Chewing gets you more of the vitamin, from what I understand.
However, I HATE the taste. I find it beyond disgusting. I can't chew them, it makes me gag. So I asked my doc about it and he said swallowing them whole, while not as good as chewing them up, is better than nothing.
So if you can chew them, do it. If it's too gross for you, swallowing them is better than nothing. I did it for years. I'm on ABDEKs now and they're soft gels, so I no longer have that problem. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">